A visit with Santa

I have only taken my kids to see Santa at the mall a handful of times. Once when AP was very small, a couple of times in the "pre-D" days, and last year D and I stopped by during the day when there was NO line.  That's what it comes down to for me: the line.  Just not worth enduring a line at the mall when you can see Santa at Ward Christmas party right?

Well this year I was going to take the kids to the Festival of Trees, but once we got up by the Expo center the parking lot was so packed and traffic so insane that I changed my mind.  We went to Barnes and Noble instead and then headed over to the mall for a visit with Santa.  We waited in line about 40 minutes.  Which actually wasn't too bad.  There were various activities for the kids to do while they waited and D had a good old time crawling through all of the decorated trees they had everywhere (thus his messed up hair in the pictures).  I also ran into an old friend from high school and talking to him helped pass the time for me.  He was several people in front of us but we ended up face to face as the line curved.  After he and his family moved on AJ asked me: "Who was that guy."  When I told her he was the brother of an ex-boyfriend she scrunched her face a little and said, "That's just weird."  I didn't ask then because her reaction was just so funny all I did was laugh, but now I'm wondering what was so weird.  Was it weird that I once had a boyfriend other than her dad?  Weird that the ex-boyfriend has a brother?  Or weird that we ran into him in the line to meet Santa?  Anyway here is the proof that I did, in fact, at least once during their childhood, take my children to see Santa.