Santa's House

Last Friday, we made the trek all the way to the north pole to see Santa. Good thing it was only about a 5 mile journey! There is a couple that lives here in Maricopa and each year they turn their garage into Santa and Mrs. Clause's (by the way, what is her first name anyway?) living room. They just ask that who ever comes to see them, they bring a non-perishable food or a new unwrapped toy for donation. This is the first year we made it to their house and not the mall Santa. It was amazing! It was the north pole as far as the kids were concerned! TONS of lights and decorations! Just no snow, but I am perfectly content with that! :)

After checking out the yard at the North Pole, we got in line to see the big guy himself and his lovely wife of course. The kids each took their turn asking Santa to bring them something special. Well, Sylvia just sat there and stared at the little toy they handed out, occasionally peeking at Santa out of the corner of her eye. She did sit there though, no tears, just not a sound!
Santa even has his own Elf Dog. His name is Buddy. He sat on the mantle the entire time we were there.

Now, beings it was Santa's house and with all the lights, of course they were in the Holiday Homes on Parade Contest. I think there are a total of 30 homes that entered this year. They each light up the outside of their home with whatever Christmas lights and decorations they want and for about a week, people judge on different categories.
We didn't get to check out many houses last year for some reason, so this year we were for sure going to go out on a hunt! I found the map online of every house and entered a portion of them into the GPS. After we left Santa's house, we hit up about 1/3 of the list. There are still tons that we haven't seen yet. As much as D and I love lights and could look at them all night, the kids soon got bored of it. Maybe we will finish checking them out next week.
Here are two houses that everyone really liked! And yes the when you drive around the corner of each of these, you say "Holy cow, it's The Grizwolds!" The entrance to Rancho Eldorado is always lit up nice as well, such a picturesque setting.

Best of all, right after this, we all enjoyed the best lemon-berry cream slushes ever! 

Sonic+Christmas Lights=A perfect family night, well spent!