SANTALAND.

The other day at ECFE, we were talking about holidays and traditions. It was fun to hear what others remembered from their childhoods, and what traditions they are carrying on for their children, along with new ones they are creating. A lot of them were similar, but some I had never heard of and they ignited my hunger to create even more magic with my own little family.

One particular friend of mine shared that when her family travels to Duluth, they get all dolled up in their Sunday best and go downtown to a park that has a pretty impressive Christmas light display. I thought that was so cute how they got all fancy, just to spend the night with only each other. Her children will surely remember that when they are grown.

We had plans already to go to the Macy's eighth floor Christmas display in downtown Minneapolis. A trip to the big city could be magical in itself. It's only about a 45 minute drive from where we live, but we're just not really big city people, and don't trek down there much. So, inspired by my friend, I decided to make this an event, one my kids will surely anticipate each year and remember long after they are grown. So we got all fancied up, although not quite our Sunday best, and set out to have a fun, memorable day as a family.

The kids were in awe, and everywhere they looked, there was magic to be discovered.

 By nature, the school room is always my favorite.

 This is surely where I would work if I were an elf.

 The mail room. Look at all those letters to Santa!

And of course Daddy liked the painter elf. 

After we had walked through Santaland, we kindly asked a gentleman to take a picture of us. And I'm not naming any names, but just as a disclaimer, I was not in charge of getting Brother dressed this morning, therefore I am not the one who forgot to put socks on him :)

We laid eyes on Mrs. Claus' bakery, and just couldn't resist.

We also stopped to write Santa a letter. Nugget asked for a new CD player, and Brother asked for a tractor. We placed it in the mailbox where Santa will be sure to receive it, then Nugget got to pick out a special new Christmas book.

Afterwards, we headed over to Broder's, an amazingly delicious Italian deli for some lunch. We were stuffed to the brim, so we took these home to enjoy at a later time. Why do cannolis have to be so darn good?

And there you have it, another magical memory to add to our Christmas of 2011 bucket.