Lapland UK

After a disappointing visit to the Christmas Grotto at Harrod's (where Father Christmas has a lumpy pillow under his dress), we decided to take the kiddos to Lapland UK.  Located in Kent, Lapland UK is a Disney-esque recreation of a winter village where you can experience the magic of Christmas for £67 per person.

My kids all loved making toys in Santa's workshop and helping Mrs. Christmas decorate her gingerbread cookies. Afterwards we were led to the town square which was carpeted in white astroturf and surrounded by beautiful trees flocked with artificial snow.  When the lights came on at dusk the effect was quite magical.

We were all a bit disappointed with the synthetic ice rink which was very difficult to skate on.  But spending five jingles (£2.50) at the "Pixie Mixie" filling a cup to overflowing with candy seemed to make up for it.

The grand finale of the event was the visit to Father Christmas in his woodland cabin.  The whole process of queuing up, checking in, walking the path, and waiting took over an hour.  But in the end, it was worth it.  The children were greeted by name and had Father Christmas all to themselves for ten minutes.  He chatted with them about their favourite toys and best friends.  He checked his big book of good children and found their names.  I think Kate was somewhat surprised that her brother's name actually made the list!

We had been rehearsing what they would say when the jolly old man asked what they wanted for Christmas.  The replies were meant to be, "Anything Harry Potter for her, any type of fire truck for him, and anything at all for the baby."

Of course, Kate followed our script perfectly, but the little man made a few impromptu changes.  Now it seems Santa will have to rush and get an "army guy train set  I saw at the shops that my mom won't buy me."   That's one sneaky kid- he knows Santa won't disappoint!

Taken a split second after all 3 kids were posing perfectly for that once in a lifetime perfect Santa photo.

This is our consolation photo.

By the end of the night we were tired and cold and a bit muddy.  But the happiness on their cherubic little faces as they marched to the car clutching the stuffed husky dogs Santa had given them made us all feel that it had been a day well spent.  Hooray for Lapland UK!