Santa Claus came to our town

There's nothing like having Santa Claus come to us, instead of us having to brave the crowds and traffic in order to visit a mall Santa. For one week every December, our local volunteer fire department visits all the neighborhoods in our city, and Mr. and Mrs. Claus are always in tow, greeting the kids and handing out candy canes. They ride around in a fire truck, with the lights glaring and sirens blaring and honking to the tune of "Jingle Bells." We had been waiting for them all week and finally started hearing the sirens in our neighborhood right as we were putting Belle down for the night. She seemed game for running out to meet Santa, so we grabbed her coat and a blanket and headed out to meet them right in front of our doorstep. Much to our surprise, Maribelle was ecstatic. She loved the noise, loved the candy canes and loved the fact that we got to take a picture with Santa. She talked about it the entire time as I put her to bed that night. Fingers crossed she has the same reaction to the Santa that will be at my work Christmas party next week.