Monday, December 23, 2013

Tea with Santa

Since there are no Christmas decorations or Santa Claus' around town or in the malls here, I made a reservation to have tea with Santa at the Sharq hotel (owned by the Ritz Carlton).  We nibbled on sweets, drank hot chocolate and tea, and waited for Santa's arrival.
In front of the Christmas tree at the Sharq Hotel
 

Santa arrived and each child got a Santa teddy bear and a photo with Santa.

 
 
 

Then we went back to our tables and Santa walked around ringing his bell and waving at the children.  The looks on Jaden and Nicholas' faces said it all - they were disappointed.  They thought they would sit with Santa and have tea with him at our table.  They were hoping for more interaction with Santa, not waving as he walked by. 

The chairs were ENORMOUS!

Playing in the giant chairs waiting for more interaction from Santa
Nicholas loves hot chocolate!  I think he drank 3 cups!!
 
Since the reservation cost a small fortune, I wanted to make the most out of the event.  So we went to Santa and I got the kids to talk to him - about the reindeer, the North Pole, what they want for Christmas.  Clearly Santa was not accustomed to so much conversation!!!  I wanted to strangle Santa!!!  Yes, I really did just say that I wanted to strangle Santa!!  Here's why:

#1 - He asked the boys how long they have been in Doha!!  A common question here for sure, but NOT A QUESTION SANTA SHOULD ASK!!!  Santa should know this right?  Afterall, Santa delivered presents to the boys in Doha last Christmas, but in Houston the Christmas before that!!  Santa knows where to find the children, so he knows how long we've been places right?!  I quickly changed the course of the conversation before the boys figured out Santa's error.

#2 - He invited the boys to come see the reindeer tonight at MIDNIGHT when they deliver the toys!!!  So many things wrong with this one - first of all encouraging children to stay up until midnight??  And why would they be delivering toys already?  It was still 2 days before Christmas!  I corrected the situation by explaining the reindeer were coming to pick Santa up to take him back to the North Pole to get ready for the delivery on Christmas Eve.

#3 - As a result of #2, all we heard for the rest of the evening was "Can we stay up until midnight?"  So I pretended to get an email from Santa saying there was a change in plans and the reindeer were coming to pick him up at 8:15, shortly after bedtime.  We went up to the 3rd floor rooftop patio and looked in the sky to see if we could see the reindeer.  Thankfully we saw a twinkling star that Jaden was convinced looked red like Rudolph's nose and was certain that was the sleigh coming to get Santa.  Of course smarty pants Nicholas responds with "I don't think so Jaden.  It's not even moving."  I tried to explain that it was still a long way off ... Jaden believed, Nicholas was still skeptic.

#4 - Our conversation with Santa ended with the boys asking about his favorite kind of cookie so we could leave him some at our house.  Mind you, we've already made chocolate chip and sugar cookies to leave for Santa, so I jumped in before Santa answered to say "chocolate chip are your favorite right?"  Thinking this would give Santa the "correct" answer.  Clearly Santa DID NOT clue in!!!  He says, "chocolate chip are okay, but can you add almonds?  I really like almond cookies."  REALLY??!!!  Now we have to make more cookies!!  I don't have time for that!!!  Praying the boys forget.  Or maybe I could just sprinkle almond slivers on top of the cookies.  Think that will work? 
 

 At least Santa redeemed himself in my book before we left.  As we were leaving the tea with Santa, we stopped in the lobby to listen to the carolers.  They sang a handful of Christmas carols and had lovely voices!! 
 


After the carols were finished, the boys wanted to say good bye to Santa and Santa asked to get a picture with the boys in the lobby.  They had a photographer at the event and they snapped several pictures of the boys with Santa in the lobby.  They looked so handsome in their bow ties!!! 

I kept telling the boys they were Santa's favorite kids!!  Of all the children at the tea, Santa only asked to get a picture with Jaden and Nicholas in the lobby.  So they must be his favorites!!  Of course the boys loved hearing this!!!  So in the end the boys had a fabulous time at the tea with Santa. 

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