Naughty or Nice?

Peyton woke up early on the Friday after Thanksgiving giddy with excitement. She was about to have her first encounter with Santa Claus. But she wouldn't settle for some tired, fake bearded Virginia mall Santa. She wanted the real deal. So, we took her to New York and paid a visit to Santa at Macy's on 32nd Street. While she was getting ready in her taffeta skirt, matching tights, silver mary jane shoes, and blue embroidered sweater, she practiced her speech - memorizing her talking points about how she's been such a good girl this year (screaming fits in the middle of the night, pulling Gizmo's tail, and grabbing cell phones and remotes even after being told "no" don't really count, right?)

We arrived at Macy's amazed to see there was no line in Santaland. Peyton was in awe as we made our way through the winding hallways decorated with trees, lights, trains, and toys.

Santa was fresh off his appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - and he did not disappoint. Peyton was fine at first - she studied Santa meticulously. Then, she spotted us standing off to the side, and her nerves got the best of her. She lost focus and started screaming.

She regained her composure quickly, and based on the look on her face as we were leaving Santaland, we're pretty sure she was able to tell Santa her wishlist before the stagefright kicked in. Pictures from the rest of our NYC Thanksgiving weekend to come.