The BEST Santa

Have you ever taken your kid to see Santa to be greeted by "elves" who rush you to stick your kid in Santa's lap, jump out of the picture, demand that absolutely no pictures be taken while your child is on another man's lap, snap the picture and rush you off? I know I have. And then they want you to purchase their 4x6 or 5x7 for $10-$20 or a package for $30!! I understand $10 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but for an experience like that... I feel like I just paid them to torture my kid and make me mad. All I want is to document my kid's experience with Santa... not be suckered into a $30 package deal. I am not in this for a photo shoot, I'm in this to get my kid a chance to sit on Santa's lap. What happened to just going to see Santa? The experience, in general, should be enjoyable for everyone. At least I think it should. :) I also wanted to go when Derick could go with us, because I wanted him to be able to see it too. So, we knew anywhere we went would be pretty busy in the evening time. Sure, I could have gone anywhere in the afternoon while everyone is napping or at school or work and probably gotten to take plenty of time, etc. But going to the same place that evening and taking time... not gonna happen.

Because we always knew of our favorite place/Santa, we never took Jake to another Santa. Well, we were recently somewhere that had a Santa, and we thought, heck we'll just do it here. Wrong. It turned out ok, but we were asked not to take any pictures. Ok, so now I have to purchase a picture if I want to remember this. Not only did that make mad... Santa's beard was so fake I'm pretty sure my 22 month old could tell.

Well, if you're with me on the above, and have never taken your kid to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops... well, then let me just tell you... STOP going to the mall, and START going to Bass Pro!! Not only is Santa super nice, he is a classic Santa (real beard, not the fake retarded silky beard). He is super nice and he talks to your kid. The background/Santa setup is also insanely awesome! It isn't like all the fake cheapo mall stuff. Seriously, it's awesome. I'll let you see for yourself in the photos I took. :) They take TIME to get a good picture for you. Then they allow YOU time to take your own pictures. I brought my professional quality camera with me this time and they ENCOURAGED me to take pictures. I am not kidding. I was bashful at first, saying, "Is it ok to take pictures if I leave my flash off?" The sweet Santa's helper delightfully said, "Oh, honey you take as many pictures as you want and use the flash if you need! You guys stand wherever you want, we'll make it work". That's right, guys... they encourage you to take your own pictures. He talks to your kid and they all make sure you've gotten what you want out of the experience. Then you go to pick up your FREE (YES, that is correct... FREE) 4x6 photo of your kiddo with Santa, PLUS a coupon for a free kid's meal. This is not a joke... this is all free. And if the classic Santa, friendly elves, get to take pictures, free photo, and free meal is not enough... they also do a craft for the kids, and there are games and toys to play with while you wait. There was remote control cars, a race track with other remote control cars, a fun little shooting game like you'd see at Chuck E Cheese, oh and also a train-Jake loved that one. And THEN, as if all the above isn't enough, you can go look at the big wall of giant fish afterward.

Needless to say, we had a blast. As always! It is really nice that there are still places out there that seem to genuinely care about their customers and aren't just itching to make every single dollar possible. THAT is how you keep good business. Because I could be buying a jacket (my request for Christmas) anywhere online and for probably cheaper, but I do believe I will be going back there to make my purchase.

The first one is obviously our favorite Santa. Much more relaxed on both parts. The second, check out that beard! No glasses, and didn't even wait for Jake to get settled into his lap before they snapped the picture. That's also the only picture I could take. It's a picture of their picture. And it cost $10 for ONE picture. Really? I wasn't even sure if I had the option not to buy it, I just wanted a my kid to get to meet Santa Claus, not get suckered into buying something. Whatever, it was just a few bucks. Still a sucky picture though! The free ones are WAY better. :)

Last year and this year. These are pictures of the picture that give you (for free, if you don't remember) :)

Picture I took last year. I didn't know I could use my big camera so I didn't bring it.

Those big ole reindeer and everything else are not a backdrop. They're really big fake (possibly dead, but I hope they're just fake lol) ones. Makes for an awesome picture!! 

Love it! And love that I got to capture it.