One of the BEST Mr. & Mrs. Claus EVER!
"SANTA!"
There is nothing more heart-warming than a little kid screaming at the top of their lungs about Santa. Especially when they are young enough to still believe in the magic of a single person delivering all of the those gifts at Christmas.
For the past 2 years, obviously only around Christmas time, we've taken our little ones to "see Santa" at Tysons Corner. Their mall Santa is legit and has been written about in various local media across the years. I mean, anyone who spends 22 YEARS at something gets a huge gold star in my book!
So when we learned that 'Santa' would also be coming to the Kentlands, were were excited, but also a little perplexed as to how we'd tell our oldest (who's only 2.5 years old) that we were seeing Santa again (given we had just visited him at the mall a few hours earlier.)
I cleverly concocted a story that since he was so good during our visit to his house, Santa and Mrs. Claus wanted to check out where he lived .... so they could make sure not to be lost when they brought all his gifts. He fell for it and was happy to "show Santa around" when he arrived.
And oh boy did he arrive! Like countless other Kentlands families with younger children, we we there and very excited when he arrived at the Clubhouse, complete with an entourage of not 1, but 2, horse-drawn carriages! To my surprise, this Santa was LEGIT! He put the guy at the mall to shame, which is a feat in itself as he was also pretty remarkable.
First, this Santa (and his Mrs. Claus) were in gorgeous and very elaborate North Pole costumes. His shoes alone were a spectacle - highly oversized with a great patina that made them appear authentic, well worn, and ready for years of continued dutiful service. She had a matching flowing gown and their make up was superb. They had a giant toy sack full of puzzles and stuffed animals. It was definitely a highly coordinated affair that provided awesome entertainment and magic for the little ones. The snacks and drinks for us adults was a great bonus too!
The 'presentation' got off to a slightly delayed start as Santa forgot his glasses. So he went to his Candy Red Mercedes (whose license plate read 'S CLAUS' -- I'm not even joking! I wish I had snapped a pic!) to retrieve them. It was a heart warming performance as he and Mr. Claus put on a puppet show, and sang, and graciously took pictures with the children. What's more, their "assistant" who helped orchestrate the whole thing was the one feeding 'Santa' information on the kid's ages and names ... so by the time our little guy got to sit on Santa's knee, her already new his name and how old he was. Since we dropped the hint that we had just seen him a few hours earlier, Santa dropped that in there as well.
We've been really taken back by how "into the holidays" the Kentlands community is. From Halloween, to "Fall Decorating" to Thanksgiving, and now through the Christmas holiday, it is pretty awesome to see so many neighbors really getting into the spirit and decorating their homes with lights and wreaths and other holiday appropriate displays. (I definitely intend to "pick it up a notch" to keep up next year!)
Special thanks to all the staff at the KCA who worked so hard to make the event a huge success. Our little guy would't stop talking about Santa for days --- so I know he had a great time!
- Yianni
UPDATED --- 12.16.2016
I came across this earlier this afternoon --- and while my kids are still small enough to believe in Santa, I can't wait to help them "become" Santas at some point.