Naughty or Nice

I took Ian to the mall last week to see Santa. They have this new "Santastic" experience thing at The Mall in Columbia that I thought we would check out. Beforehand you're supposed to have your kid write a letter to Santa that you then bring with you to put in the giant mailbox. The letter is what Ian has in his left hand in this picture. The whole experience is a 3 step process. First you go in and push the button on the "Naughty or Nice-O-Meter" to find out which you have been this year. You watch as the arrow bounces back and forth between the two until inevitably landing on "nice". Then the next stop is the giant mailbox. This is where our experience got interesting. You're supposed to put your hand on the box and then when you hear the wind start to blow you open it up and drop your letter in. As Ian was putting his hand on the box I was trying to get a picture. I couldn't figure out why the "wind" wasn't blowing. Apparently, you aren't supposed to take pictures in the Santastic experience. An "elf" reprimanded me and told me to put my camera away. When Ian finally opened the mailbox it was pretty cool. They had a fan blowing fake snow out of the box and Ian dropped his letter in. The last stop was Santa. Ian is terrified of Santa (or any other costumed character for that matter) so needless to say he hid behind me as we walked past. He was a pretty cool looking Santa though. He looked more like St. Nick with tiny bells in his mustache and everything. I'm not sure why they go through the trouble of having a mailbox if Santa is right there.

So, I guess this year I'm getting nuthin' but coal in my stocking, I was very naughty right in Santa's presence - taking illegal pictures and all. Obviously, the reason they don't want you taking pictures is because at the end of the "experience" they try to sell you the pictures that they took at each stage. You can get one measly picture for $14 - you've got to be kidding me!! People were standing outside the roped off area trying to get pictures of their kids on Santa's lap. It was all kind of ridiculous and sad. Well, I got one pirated picture anyway!