Santa

Last year, Eli was oblivious to sitting on Santa's lap.

This year, he is still not quite ready yet to make friends with Santa.

Maybe next year...

Ronald McDonald

Today, the McDonald's in Maquoketa celebrated its grand re-opening, which even included a visit from Ronald McDonald.  We thought this might be good practice for when Eli sees Santa next weekend.  We got there early to eat lunch first, which was a good thing since it filled up with people fast.  Then, at 11:30 on the dot (Ronald is quite a punctual clown), he showed up by announcing, "Hello everybodeeeee!"  He was quite obnoxious but also clever with his jokes.  

He made his way from one table to the next to greet all the kids and pass out an autographed picture.  Eli didn't seem to mind him coming close and talking to him.  

Watching from a distance

Passing out an autographed picture

Apparently, he had enough of Ronald.

As a side note, I still remember the very first time I met Ian and I had asked him what his last name was; his friend who was with us then mentioned that Ian's dad's name was Ron.  It took a minute for it to sink in, but that was the first time I realized that my father-in-law also shares the same name, Ronald McDonald:)