I Caved In! Yes, Lil Love Bird Saw Santa

A couple weeks ago I posted about how we weren't going to take Nia to see Santa this year, but after going to a tree-trimming party that our library storytime friends threw we changed our minds. I saw the family's picture with Santa and they and their friends told us how much their toddlers LOVED Macy's Santaland so when my good friend Veronica C. asked to meet up before Christmas I suggested we go yesterday.

Overall, Nia LOVED it!

This talking tree was the first thing we saw upon entering Santaland and it freaked Nia out!

See I'm still getting the hang of the DSLR and ISO, but I LOVE model train sets!

Nia adored seeing Rudolph - we've watched the movie 2x already!

 I usually abhor going downtown to touristy places like Times Square, Macy's and Chinatown, but arriving at 4p.m. the line was really not bad. We got through everything in about 30 minutes. On the otherhand Macy's itself was a NUTHOUSE!

The little audience of bears right on her level made her so excited!

She was shrieking with delight!

Now a special tip a fellow Toastmaster gave me for those of the chocolate persuasion: Be sure to ask for the "special" Santa. I did and we ended up seeing the black Santa Claus. Who knew?!

When I asked for him my friend inquired, "The special Santa?" and I explained that he's chocolate. My friend is Asian and it made me wonder if Asian or Hispanic families ask for a "special" Santa would they get one in their flavor too? 

We had to wait a few minutes for him (I take it they don't keep him there all the time but pull him into costume when requested). I let Nia walk in to see him on her own and while she was nervous at first, she showed him her boots and Christmas tunic then eventually sat on his lap. 

Nia and my friend waiting to see the "special" Santa

It was so tight and there was so much to look at that it was hard to get Nia to look at the camera

I didn't buy the picture since we have one from last year and it was nearly $20 (yikes!), but it was a fun memory and I'll definitely take her back to Santaland and will probably just skip seeing Santa. I had thought to do that before until I was told about the "special" Santa and wanted to see for myself!

When we were done with Santaland on the way to the train I let Nia look at Macy's windows telling the story of Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus and she started giggling so hard - it was adorable! I don't think she understands that her name is Virginia too but I think someday she'll think this is fun. 

Have any of my readers experienced a "special" Santa? (I told Mr. Love Bird about it, and he said it was all wrong because Santa's supposed to be white!)