Brian and I actually visited Magnolia Manor when we were looking for a location for our wedding but they didn't allow alcohol at their venue back then so they got dropped off our list.
It was cold (in the 30s) so I bundled up the kids in lots and lots of layers. Carter kept falling at first probably because he couldn't keep his balance with so many clothes on!
We went to a little house on the edge of the property to visit Santa first. The line wasn't very long but it took a long time because they only let one group in at a time and let everyone take their time visiting with Santa. Plus it probably took forever for everyone to get off all they layers to reveal their Christmas outfits for their pictures with Santa!
Carter and Caitlyn did a really good job waiting patiently in line.
We talked about Santa a lot while we were in line and I even helped Carter figure out what he was going to ask Santa for, which is a choo-choo. Carter didn't seem to understand when I explained that Santa is going to bring him a present for Christmas if he's good and that he can ask for anything he wants. He just looked at me with a blank expression. So I sort of suggested a train would be a good thing to ask for since it's what he's getting. He'd most likely ask for that or "zoo, ah-ah" anyway if he got what I was telling him. A train has stuck though and when I mention Santa, he says "choo-choo".
Once we got inside, neither Carter nor Caitlyn wanted anything to do with Santa. I didn't want to force Carter to visit him since I can see how Santa is a bit scary and overwhelming. But I did have Rylan sit on Santa's lap. They were taking pictures and selling CDs of the photos so Amy and I had them take pictures of both Rylan and Alek and put them on a CD for us.
After visiting Santa, we went back towards the parking lot to ride ponies. I didn't know they were going to have ponies there but Carter spotted them as soon as we pulled in and I knew we weren't leaving without him getting a ride. I'm surprised I was even able to get him to visit Santa first!
Carter loved it! Caitlyn wasn't too sure but was feeding off of Carter's excitement and said she wanted to ride too. She got scared when Chad first put her on the pony, but after about a minute she seemed to be enjoying it too.
The ride was probably at least five minutes and Carter actually seemed to be getting bored by the end.
I know Rylan and I looked silly with all the blankets wrapped around him but he didn't fuss and seemed to stay warm!
After the pony ride, we went into the heated tent area and sat down for a little bit while the kids colored. We spent about an hour and a half there and headed out around 7:30 pm. We had lots of fun and I hope we get to go back next year (when it's hopefully a little warmer!).
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