Dec. 8th – Disneyland and Pictures with Santa

I really really really wanted Landen to have his picture taken with Santa for his first Christmas but we were leery about taking him to a mall Santa.  Unless we were the first one in line, first thing in the morning I was too nervous about all the germs that would be all over Santa’s suit.  Renée told me that Santa was available for pictures in the evenings at the Grand Californian Hotel at Downtown Disney.  For some reason this seemed less “icky” to me (although he probably was just as germy).  I called the hotel to find out when Santa would be available and was told he comes out at 4 pm.  My mom and I went down there super early that afternoon and secured the first spot in line!  I was so excited.  When Santa came out Landen had his picture taken by a photopass photographer and then I went and changed his clothes just in case any creepy crawlies had rubbed off on him.  Landen never ended up getting sick and we got some cute pictures of him with Santa.  Since we were down there, we decided to stay to check out the Christmas decorations at Disneyland.  My Dad and John joined us once they got off of work.  It was a really nice evening even though it was cold.  This time Landen was actually awake for much of the trip and got to take in the sights and sounds of Disneyland.

Resting up before my big trip to see Santa

Hanging out with Mimi in the Grand Californian lobby before Santa makes his appearance

Santa!!!  He was so sweet to me.  He said that he knew I’d been a good boy and he was sure I’d want toys and food for Christmas.  He’s super smart.  (Some of these pictures aren’t great quality because they’re just screen grabs off the Disney site.  We couldn’t afford to buy them all!)

Tree in the hotel lobby ... it’s huge!

Waiting for Daddy and Papa to arrive

Checking everything out

Pretty!

It’s "snowing"!

Small World is so pretty at Christmas.  It takes my breath away every time I see it.

Standing in line.  Landen loved all the lights.

Landen absolutely loved every second of Small World.  He was in heaven.  He loved the bright lights, the singing, everything!  He was totally engaged the entire ride.

After Small World we had dinner at the Village Haus and then headed to Main Street to find a place to watch the fireworks and snow.

Landen’s first “snow” (he slept through the earlier one)

After the show we went back to the Grand Californian lobby so John and my Dad could see the decorations and I could feed Landen a bottle before we got on the road to head home.