Ahh another weekend, another visit to Santa.
Leisurely wake up this morning…kids stayed at their grandparents yesterday evening (after seeing Santa yet again…they’re gonna catch on soon), and myself and Jordan were up until the early hours playing Santas Elves and wrapping presents ready for the big day…ONLY 2 WEEKS!!! It’s all good though, Christmas movies on the big screen to get us through…boss.
Bloody freezing today…animals fed and watered, some porridge and a bit of marking (only 98 papers) in my oversized hoodie…oh the joys…but it’s cool (we’ll actually it’s freezing), we’re off to the Rhondda Heritage Park to see Santa this evening.
Quick call to check in on the kids (poor Gray has been a bit under the weather the last few days, but a lot better today)…all good, but we get a warning from Grandma…’Do you think we should cancel tonight? There’s a terrible fog’…nah I think we’ll struggle through it thanks Grams, been in fog a few times before…oh and there’s also a light dusting of snow about too…bloody valleys!!
Ok so off we go then, pick up the kids and on to the Heritage Park…quick stop off in Tim Hortons on the way first (French Vanilla Latte for the win!!)….feeling withdrawals; last visit was 2 days ago 😂
Get to our destination finally and meet up with the Family…there’s a lot of family here tonight…most importantly for Gray, his best mate and cousin Ted…these two are bloody mental together, god help Santa and his Elves tonight…added with LooLoo, we were sure to be in for a treat…brilliant. Oh and Aunty Mandy had bought the kids a little present each…bloody jingle bells…what can go wrong??!!
Few quick pics at the entrance, and a few more personalised baubles for the tree (why the hell not init)…our poor tree, already showing the stress of a million baubles…you only have like 3 weeks left tree, you can do it!!!
Check in and some hot chocolates with marshmallows…ahhh Christmas time…it’s our turn, come on gang, let’s go terrorise Santa…14 Fletchers and family…poor bugger.
Lovely and picturesque here, especially with a dusting of snow around…Kids had a few nice pics with the props around the place…elves and Santa…oh and Jordan got stuck in a snowman…good start. So bloody cold tonight, literally lost feeling in my nose, let’s hope the mines are warmer…yeah, more like wishful thinking I guess.
Nice guided tour by our lead elf for the evening pointing out all the props and telling us where Santa was…someone has to babysit Grandma though…guess thats me…it’s ok, she looked after me when I couldn’t walk, time to return the favour I guess. Dare I leave go of here arm for a second though? Nope…”where’s my escort??!!”…keep it quite mags, I’m a handsome young man, people will start talking…
Ah hot wheels Saran was also in tow causing absolute havoc, the poor elf had no idea how to accommodate a wheelchair into the tour and had the whole party waddling around like penguins in the ice and snow…stairs for us then? Yep thanks, at least we get to the warm…see ya later Mam, enjoy the scenic route.
Lovely little tour around the Heritage Park, some great lights and scenes for everyone to see and have pics with…Ok so we’re in a mine right…so everyone in the lift please…literally 20 or so people jammed into a lift to go down into Santa’s mine…yeah it’s not far at all, a few feet in the lift…but nothing says Christmas than having 20 strangers jammed so closely together that I could feel Ben whispering sweet nothings into my ear….ah I love it.
Off down the mine then…let’s hope Gray doesn’t get PTSD from the Seven Dwarves mine train debacle in Florida…we all know how that ended!! Finally doors opened and into Santas mine…wow, the kids were straight in there…and throwing all sorts of poses in front of the mine karts filled with toys…that’s it kids, get to Santa before anyone else can.
Such an awesome little walk through the mine, lots of cool scenes and lovely and well lit…the kids (and adults) loved it!!…although I think Ben got anxiety and vowed never to return again…be blames the hassle of having 14 of us causing havoc, but I think his clause-trafobia (fear of Santas in small spaces) had kicked in and he was too masculine to tell us (well I say masculine, as masculine as a guy that wears a scrunchie in his hair).
Few stops along the way, lead elf reading a few verses out…I’m sure they were great, but I couldn’t hear a word…and now we needed a word to light up the trail ahead…‘does anyone have a word to light up the tunnel??’…no one replied…no one except Alaska…’aaahhbbballa’…the fuck was that Loo??!!….She said ‘Santa’…good save Mandy…ok so we all shout ‘Santa’ and the cave illuminates…well done Alaska.
Ooo snow…well Snoap, but close enough…Grandma was rioting and reliving her uni foam party days, raving it through the masses of snow…the rest of us were less impressed, and Gray was raging (not raving like mags), but fun nonetheless.
By now, poor Gray was a little chilly and had a bright red nose…’dad I look like Rolloff’…umm ok bud, oh look here’s Rudolph, grab a pic next to him until we find Rolloff buddy…and finally we find Santa!!! Yay!!
Damn this Santa was good, always is…his banter with the kids is great, even subtly gave another group of kids a bollocking for kicking at their seats…top man.
Finally the kids turn to see Santa and get their gifts…lovely, pics with Santa and the kids before me and Jo get in on the action…lovely family pics of a great evening.
Not to be beaten though…Mam and Dad insist that she has a pic of Santa with here kids…great…but not to be outdone…good old Grandma makes sure that she gets a pic of her and the Grandkids with Santa too…was super awkward when she sat on his lap…even worse when she asked Santa if he had a candy cane in his pocket or if he was happy to see her…behave mags!!
Off to collect our pics and go our separate ways…lovely family evening…let’s see if the tradition continues next year if Ben can cope…see you all Christmas week gang!!
Maccas on the way home and chill before bed…see ya real soon folks.
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