Santa Stalker

This past weekend was the annual Children's Christmas party on base. This was the first year that we attended and we are sure glad that we did! I wasn't sure what Joanna's reaction to sitting with Santa was going to be. Last year she was NOT about to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas....this year, Santa must have felt that one of his elves stowed away in his gift sack! From the second Santa made his grand entrance (via Hum-V) into the hangar, Joanna would NOT let him out of her sight. She chased him around his entire pass around the C-17, making sure to stay within an arms length, and every time he paused to shake hands with the kids, she would park herself right in front of his face to get another hand shake! Much to her dismay, we eventually wrangled her into our control while Santa made his way inside the C-17 to his throne to begin setting up for pictures. Once Santa was out of sight, we put Joanna down....bad idea....by the time I turned around, she had already scaled the stairs of the C-17 (pushing grown-ups and kids out of her way...but saying 'scuse me. sorry.' the whole way.....)! Once she made it to the top of the stairs, my pregnant body lunging as fast as it could to catch up to her, she grabbed an unsuspecting woman's hand and DRUG her down the inside of the C-17, shouting 'c'mon! I show 'em Santa!' This poor woman gave me this most confused look as she was whipped out of sight down into the belly of the C-17! I eventually hoisted myself up the stairs and when I got to the top, what do I see???? Joanna sitting on Santa's lap!! Mind you, Santa was in mid-picture with another kid who had been patiently waiting his turn -- he and his parents and the woman Joanna drug along all standing around in complete dismay. I quickly jumped in, grabbed Joanna, apologized to all involved and 'ran' to the back of the line that was forming to see Santa. Luckily, Randy showed-up around this time and was able to help me with our now inconsolable, Santa-obsessed child. We braved another 10 min or so of waiting in line and eventually made it to the front of the line.....Joanna was sooooooooooooooo excited to get her very own picture with Santa!! I think this picture says it all!!