bass pro santa

For Brooke's first Christmas, we came to the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine to get her picture taken with Santa.  Everything went smoothly, but we waited for almost 2 hours in line!  The next year, we did the same, but thankfully didn't have to wait quite as long.  Her third Christmas, and Colby's first, we headed up for more Santa pictures.  We arrived right after 10 (when they opened), but our ticket said to come back in like 4 hours to then stand in line.  Kevin was less than thrilled, and since Brooke's hatred of pictures was pretty strong, we weren't excited about the whole ordeal.  We ran a few errands, then went to Steak 'N Shake for lunch.  While we were sitting there, we noticed a man dressed as Santa. I really wanted to ask him for a picture so we could avoid the Bass Pro Shop, but we didn't want to bother the poor guy.  But then he came to our table and offered, so I was thrilled!  Of course Brooke didn't want a picture, so we don't have her Santa picture that year.  And I don't think we even tried the year after that either because I can't find a picture.

Brooke had expressed an interest in going to see Santa this year, and I kept asking her if she was SURE that she wanted to go.  She kept assuring me that she did, and when it was our turn, they walked right over to Santa, hand in hand.  Santa made a comment to Colby that he liked the way he walked right over with such confidence :)

Brooke was so sweet with Colby and I love that she is rubbing his ear because that is totally her comfort thing for herself.

The pictures were HILARIOUS!!  Colby was making the funniest faces, and the one they took with his mischievous eyes to the side is forever going to be my favorite.  I thought Brooke looked beautiful in her red dress, bow, shoes, and matching lipstick.  I love that she is so girly, but also loves to run and play and get dirty.

Only at the Bass Pro Shop would they have the crossbow as an activity next to the Santa pictures, haha! We all gave it a whirl, then moved on to the rifle section, haha.

Then it was time to write a letter to Santa and place it in the mailbox. The whole experience was adorable, and pretty magical for the kids.

When we were finished, we headed to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, then it was time to take Papa to the airport.  Since the airport was close to the Dallas Galleria, I made the executive decision that we would make a quick stop and I'm so glad that we did.  Nordstrom looked beautiful, and Brooke was twirling around like a princess on that red carpet.  The whole mall was decorated so beautifully!

This was the perfect way to kick off the Christmas season!