Santa or Hot Chocolate?

Seeing how our first Santa encounter of 2011 didn't go over so well,  Trey and I thought we would give it another shot.  No, we generally aren't into repeatedly putting Layla and Jenna through traumatic experiences, but when it comes to Santa, the rules change.  I mean, crying on Santa's lap is sort of a rite of passage don't you think?  Besides...maybe they'd be fine this time.  It was another lovely Saturday afternoon, so we loaded up the girls and headed to Brookhaven's Santa Day.  

When we arrived, there was quite a long line to ride in his sleigh, but Santa was chilling on a bench just waiting for the girls to run up and jump in his lap.  Well, that didn't happen.  As we were approaching him, it was becoming more and more apparent that this was NOT going to be an easy task.  Santa had the grand idea for us to hold the girls facing away from him and then slowly back up toward him while he slipped in for the picture.  Yeah, so that didn't work either, but here's what we got.  

"OMG, sissy!  There's that man again!"

Well, that situation seemed to stress the girls out quite a bit, so we decided to ditch the other Santa activities and head next door for Layla and Jenna's first Starbucks trip.  While Daddy was waiting for L&J's hot chocolate order to be ready, the girls shared some gingerbread while listening to the carolers sing.    

"Hey!  We know that song!"

I'd like to think the girls have a pretty healthy diet...most of the time.  They certainly get their fair share of treats, but when it comes to drinks, they only have milk or water and splurge on a cup of diluted juice just once per week.  I was anxious to see what their reaction would be to a cup of hot chocolate.

Layla: "What's this?"

Jenna: "Did you say chocolate?!?!"

Jenna is our "I'll try anything once" girl.  Here she is checking it out.  

This is her, "Whoa, what was that?" face.  But like most new things, she decided she liked it...

...and this was the scene for the next 10 minutes.

Layla doesn't always want to try new things, but after checking out the cup, she leaned over and took a sip.

And here's what we got.  (That was the end of her hot chocolate experience.)

Instead, Layla spent the rest of the time dancing with her Daddy...

...while Jenna went to get a closer look at the carolers (with hot chocolate in hand, of course).

When she was all finished up, Jenna made sure to put the cup in the "tash".

Layla made her way to the car and Jenna mustered up a little courage to wave at Santa.

Jenna: "Bye bye, Santa."

That sweet Santa tried one more time to win her over.  Jenna really, really thought about it, but ultimately dissed him once again.  

I think if you were to ask the girls to choose between Santa and hot chocolate, Jenna would definitely choose hot chocolate.  Layla, on the other hand, would probably just want to stay home. At this point, we are 0 for 2 in the Santa department.  Don't worry...we shall try again.