A Very Long Wait to See Santa

With only 15 days until Christmas, we decided to make a visit to the North Pole (Gertens) to see Santa and Mrs. Claus today.  Calvin wanted to look his very best for Santa, and cried for about 30 minutes before leaving the house because he wanted to wear Kadence's dress and tights.  I was able to find an acceptable button-up shirt instead, and suggested he ask Santa for a dress for Christmas.  We arrived at Gertens about 5 minutes after opening and were surprised to find ourselves at the end of a very long line of anxious and restless children.  I figured it would take about an hour, and thought the kids could put up with the wait.  Two hours later we were close enough to hear Mrs. Claus' stories and see Santa...  At this point, Calvin said to me, "this is a bummer, I want to go home now."  Somehow, we made it through the last half hour (Kadence was nearly asleep at this point) and had a great chat with Santa.  Calvin opted to ask for a big snowblower instead of a dress.  Kadence put up with a few seconds on Santa's lap, but then decided grabbing handfuls of candy canes would be more fun.