Pink Pig and Santa

Earlier this week we completed one of my all-time favorite Christmas traditions...taking a ride on the Pink Pig and going to see Santa at Lenox Mall!

For anyone not from the Atlanta-area, the Pink Pig might sounds like a silly thing that has nothing to do with Christmas, but in fact, it does!  Priscilla the Pink Pig was first introduced in the 1950's as a holiday ride at Rich's downtown store to take children through the toy department.  Later, it was featured at the Egleston Children's Hospital Festival of Trees and now the ride's home is at Macy's Lenox Square.  

It is an Atlanta holiday tradition and I just love that we take part in it every year.  The ride is set up in a giant tent and takes children and families through a life-sized storybook all about Priscilla and her friends.   

I first took Little Mama with my friend, T, and her daughter when our girls were just one-year-old.  Since then, we've been planning a day to go every single year and this was our 7th year.  Our group has grown as siblings were added and more friends have had kids, but that just multiplies the fun!  

We bought our tickets and hopped in line, but before we rode the kids got to say a quick hello to Priscilla herself!

They also got to check out the souvenirs and other goodies sold at the ride.  I usually escape this section without purchasing anything, but we do have an ornament we bought a few years ago to remind us of the fun we have each Christmas.  

 These girls waited patiently in line...

And then it was our turn!  I opted to stay off the ride and take pictures this year since Boo-Boo is old enough to ride by himself, but Jen was on it with Little Cute and they were all excited to ride. 

These two oldest girls are the ones that started this fun tradition for us and here they are, 7 years later, still the sweetest of friends and still riding it side-by-side.

After the ride, our crazy crew makes our way through the mall to get in line to see Santa.  Because we go during the week after school one day, the lines are never long and the wait is always minimal.  This year there was only one family ahead of our group so the kids got their lists ready to hand over to Santa and Little Mama and A got a last minute chance to compare their lists.  

My kids all ran up and gave Santa a big hug and then climbed right up into his big chair to start going over their lists.  He asked each of them what they wanted, if they had been good this year.  He is so sweet and really takes time with each of them.

This was the best picture I got of them all semi-smiling, but the magical memories they made were priceless and they are all hoping Santa visits our house on Christmas Eve.

After visiting Santa we ALWAYS finish up with dinner at the food court and Chick-fil-a is usually the crowd favorite. Kids laugh, moms try to chat, and we all just soak up another year of wonderful memories.

As we were pulling out of the parking deck to make our way home, my crew looked over and saw the gorgeous Great Tree lit up and shining bright.  It was the perfect note to end our night on!

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