For the past few weeks, we’ve pondered what to do about taking the kids to see Santa Claus this year. We know some of the malls are still doing Santa villages, but the inevitable crowds and overall setup don’t feel particularly safe. In normal times, we went to a local outdoor mall that had a great Santa Claus, but this year appearntly Santa is virtual and families pay to have their pictures taken with a screen Santa.
We also explored doing a virtual Santa thing at home, but the couple we looked at were comically expensive. Somewhere in the midst of this, though, Erin saw several people posting in a local moms’ group on social media that, of all places, Cabela’s has a great Santa Claus experience for the COVID era. Families make reservations, there are temperature checks, and Santa sits behind a plexiglass wall so kids can have their pictures taken.
While we are not what you’d call typical Cabela’s shoppers, there is one nearby and we thought we’d give it a try. We went over on Thursday afternoon, not knowing quite what to expect. Is there a dress code? Blaze orange jackets required? Well, we’d soon see.
I have to say, it was actually really awesome. Sure, we had to walk past lots of taxidermy, hunting magazines and Christmas lights shaped like shotgun shells to get to Santa’s Village, but hey, why not?
There were good safety measures and temperature checks, keeping families well distanced. While we waited our turn, an elf named Al joked around with the kids and made all of us feel at ease. When we got over to Santa, he did a great job of engaging with the kids, even through the plexiglass. He made them smile, the kids told him what they wanted, and it went really well.
And it was FREE! My favorite price of all. We are so used to doing these things and paying forty bucks for a couple of stilted looking photos, but this whole thing cost zero dollars and was actually really nice. So thanks to all the local moms who suggested this, and big kudos for Erin for checking it out and setting it up. It was a big hit.
I feel a little bad taking advantage of Cabela’s this way. I imagine they expect people to buy stuff when they take part in this. Maybe I should go back and buy some camouflage socks or a compound bow or something.
Or not. Cabela’s will probably be just fine.
On the way home, Erin made a stop to pick up some gift boxes and a few other odds and ends, and treated us to some festive headgear, also, The kids got some headbands.
And I got this sweet hat.
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Amelia said, with a very straight face, “I like you in that hat.” I generally trust her fashion sense more than mine, so I’m sure she’s onto something. My look could use a little more jolly.
