Black Friday is fun for non-shoppers too!

We have a tradition on Black Friday too, but it’s a little different than the norm.

We all sleep in as late as possible (8:47 this morning – can I get an AMEN?!!), snuggle in the big bed, and avoid getting dressed as long as possible. We play games, eat whatever cereal we can scrounge out of the pantry, and goof around. Then, when we get hungry for some real food, we finally put on some pretty clothes and go to the mall. Yes, the mall! I know, I know, this is starting to sound like your average Joe Black Friday shopping tradition. But it’s not. You see, our tradition is to go to one of the less-popular malls on Black Friday, grab lunch in the oh-so-swanky food court, and then visit Santa for the first time of the season. Woohooo! The jolly guy is always there the day after Thanksgiving, but here’s the thing: no one is visiting him. Everyone else in the mall is battling it out in the endless check-out lines, fighting for bargains in sweater departments that look like they’ve been bombed, and running through electronics stores seeking that elusive 75% off big-screen tv that was advertised.

Ahhhhhhh. We just nimbly avoid it all and keep our eye on the real prize, the dude in red.

Nicely played, little Ro and little Ree. (By the way, it’s not their best Santa picture, and not the worst. Check out all the previous santa pics from 2005 to 2009.)

Then we stop by Macy’s afterwards. Not to shop, oh no, you couldn’t pay me to get in those angry check-out lines that stretch all the way around the store. No, our destination is the Santa mailbox that Macy’s always sets up. Adorable little desk, Santa postcards, and shiny red mailbox. Always fun.

I have to write this down or I’ll forget: Ro wrote that she’d like a life-sized Rapunzel doll (we saw it in Target yesterday), and Ree asked for “the Tangled toys” (which I think were the 9” Rapunzel doll and horse that we also saw in Target). Oh, in all the pics Ro has pink sleeves and Ree has white ones, in case it was hard to tell.

After the Santa Stuff this year, we ran by the x-ray office to get a followup scan of Ree’s arm. God bless the iPAD, that’s all I can say about that. I don’t think the girls even noticed that we were there for an hour. A Frosty movie and part of a Tinkerbelle one and they were in hog heaven.

Upon arriving home, it was time for marshmallow Christmas crafts. We go for easy and edible around here. Whipped up a few marshmallow snowmen and some dubious-looking, um, Christmas stars. Yeah, Christmas stars, that’s what they are. Hey they’ll look cute on the tree, and that’s what counts, right?

The crafts probably deserve their own post, so I’ll jot down a few notes and details and post the rest of the pics tomorrow. Hope your Black Friday was fruitful, and I’d love to hear: Did you score some insane bargains today or avoid the malls like the plague and indulge in some other kind of Black Friday tradition?