#41 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Storytime at Northpark Mall with "The Real Santa." Seriously, this Santa is amazing. Storytime is everyday at 10:30 am and is wonderful. "The Real Santa" has a degree in child psychology and is incredibly engaging.
Here is our annual picture with Santa, previous pictures can be found in last year's blog post found here,
http://leeandkerry.blogspot.com/2010/12/pictures-with-santa.html

Madeleine at 7 1/2, Everett at 4. December 2011

#40 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Lowe's Build and Grow Kid's Clinic. I wrote about the Home Depot clinic as my #19 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids, but they are on different Saturdays so it is worth mentioning both! My kids love these events! You have to preregister and arrive right on time (10 am). This is a wonderful free kid activity!

#39 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Attend Tuba Christmas. This event is held throughout the world, you can find one close to you here. I found out about Tuba Christmas last year after Christmas and since it was on Christmas Eve here in Dallas last year I thought it would be on Christmas Eve again. Unfortunately, since Christmas Eve was on Saturday, it was on Friday! So, I missed it. But I will be ready for it next Christmas at Thanksgiving Square downtown! You can watch the 2007 Tuba Christmas in Dallas on youtube here.

#38 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Visit Santa's Village in Richardson. This free event is awesome, though I have not yet figured out the time to go when it is not busy...

This year the kids (mine and my sister's) loved the sleigh rides! These wonderful volunteers ran them up and down the sidewalk in this sleigh. The kids did this 3 times!

Cousin picture with a Christmas... duck???

And the girls wrote letters to Santa. The photo above is the letter from my niece, it says, "Dear Santa, I want my two front teeth for Christmas. P.S. Are you really real?"

#37 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Ride the Polar Express train. We had such a good time! My mom bought tickets for my family and my sister's family and after a 2 hour drive to Palestine, Texas, we boarded the polar express train for the north pole. The kids were all dressed in their pajamas like in the story and we were all treated to hot chocolate and a sugar cookie on the 30 minute ride. While we journeyed to the north pole we heard the polar express story through the speaker system of the train while the train staff walked up and down the aisle showing us the pictures from the book. Then we were at the north pole! As we drove by we saw Santa and the elves. As the train turned around to head back home we learned that Santa was on the train! Santa walked by and delivered our bell from the reindeer's sleigh and we loudly sang Christmas songs and danced on our 30 minute ride back. It was such fun!

We are ready!

The kids were more ready!

There were a lot of us on that train!

Madeleine and Lee

#36 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Visit the Neiman Marcus window display at Christmastime. Here is a video of them installing them this year. The kids can crawl in them and have a blast. Make sure that you go when they are open, times can be found here.

The kids loved exploring.

Some happy kids.


They were above us!

#35 Thing to Do in Dallas with Kids

Go ice skating at the Galleria. Or watch the ice skaters and now you can enjoy the beautiful Christmas tree. Right now my kids love to watch the ice skaters and are not ready to go ice skating themselves. This is a favorite activity, especially in December when we can also be mesmerized by the huge Christmas tree.