I rode to work with Stephen and then Heath and the kids picked me up at the end of the day. We headed strait to Crown Center for our yearly tradition. We got a great parking spot then stopped for a mintue on our way in to pose with the train and a couple of sports cars and Peanut requested a shot with a soldier.
We got cold pretty quick and headed into the mall. Our first stop was the gingerbread village. Peanut ran over to it an stared eyeballing the candy. We got the stroller over to it and even Pumpkin who has never had any candy seemed really excited.
We didn’t stay long because we knew the line for Santa and train restaurant would grow as the night went on.
Santa is surrounded by some sort of Crayola fortress. The kids must climb, jump and slide their way around a circle a few times before they gain access to him.
While the kids are going through this intense obstacle course the parents wait in a curvy line for santa. Heath and I took turns waiting in line or chasing the kids around making sure they were being nice and safe.
As I got near the front of the line Heath snagged Pumpkin and switched her clothes real quick.
Then it was our turn. I got the camera ready and Heath helped get the kids onto Santa’s lap.
Then I guess we saw what Christmas Magic is all about. 
It was fairly predictable but still funny to see Pumpkin terrified of this creepy beard guy and she has more experience with beards then most kids. It really reminded us of Peanut when he was little.
Peanut is a big kid now and did great telling Santa just how many clone soldiers he needed in his empire. 
Then it was time to eat.
We ordered a couple of greasy burgers, fries and chicken nuggets then took some more pictures.
Pumpkin scarfed down a banana and then scraps from the rest of us and some carrots when she was not watching the trains zooming around above us.
After dinner we wondered around the mall a bit and watched some bell ringers and checked out some stores then headed back to the car through all the lights.
Past the Mayor Funk Tree
But we got stopped by all the giant wood toys again and we all ran around and played till our hands were cold.
Then we loaded up the minivan and headed home. On the way home we stopped by Aldi for a load of groceries. I got some really funny picture on my cell phone of Pumpkin under a pile of groceries but left my phone at home this morning.
After Aldi we headed home and Peanut hopped in the shower while Heath and I got dinner 2 ready. We had eaten really light at Aldi and Heath had a trey of Salty Iguana leftovers from her Holiday party so we warmed up some plates.
We all ate dinner 2 then Peanut went to bed and I started cooking. I made a big lasagna for tonight.
When Heath got done eating she started cooking too. We got Pumpkin in pajamas and in bed then got after 2 treys of rice crispy treats. 
First Heath made a green batch then we made a red one. It was quite festive but they left this morning to go to Peanut’s school and I doubt we ever see them again. 
Once all the dishes and cooking and cleaning were done for the night. We watched a bit of tv then went to bed.