There was no way we were taking public transportation downtown, so we drove, but parking was a nightmare. We even bypassed looking for a meter and went straight for a garage! It was a holiday *steal* at $22 for 3 hours or less, and Ann was again the angel of the day and paid for it as her Christmas gift to me and Odin. Then we drove up and down the garage for almost half an hour looking for a spot, and I was reminded why I do my holiday shopping on amazon.com.
I had never been to the Shops at 900 but apparently it's an upscale mall. So upscale, that it was basically deserted during prime shopping hours in downtown Chicago! It was very weird, but also nice because we didn't have to fight the crowds. When we found Santa there was no line whatsoever! He had two little girls on his lap when we got there, and they were smiling and laughing and loving Santa. He seemed like a good one! We were the first and only people in line, which was amazing. I was prepared for a two hour wait and even brought a bottle for Odin in case I had to feed him in line. Santa seriously LOVED Odin and didn't want to give him back to me! He loved his name too, and quizzed me on Norse mythology, haha. We took a few shots, and the last one Santa pretended to take a nap with Odin but it looked really bad, like a drunk guy passed out with a baby. Hindsight says I should have bought that one because the internet would have surely loved it. At the end Odin got a cute stuffed polar bear to match his bear suit.
It was a successful trip, if you don't count when I had to leave the order line at Potbelly to feed Odin in the corner. Going out with a baby is super hard, and I don't think I'll do it again by myself for a long time. Like until after he's on solids. Or can walk. Or drive.
Waiting in line
Napping, as usual
I bet Santa rides a Harley
Or LARPs
Super quality shot with my phone -for free!
Big yawn!
Mama and her snuggle bear
Ready for lunch
Back at home with the toy from Santa
They even had special tags made
$30 for this picture -AYFKM??
