We went to go see Santa Claus (Indiana that is)

So, since we have been living the MWSF (mid-western suburban family) dream out here in Southern Illinois we have to create our own fun and find kitschy things to do. So while perusing the map, Johannes discovered we are close to a crazy little bunch of towns in Indiana named, Santa Claus, Jasper and Holland. Santa Claus, Indiana was having a big festival to celebrate the Jolly Old Elf they have named themselves for. Since we had no real plans for Christmas we thought we'd take the kids for an overnight trip to see what there was to see.



We stayed at the Santa Claus Inn and had breakfast with Santa. Here are the kids playing in his sleigh.



One of the places the kids really liked was the Santa Claus Candy Cane Castle. It had dozens of flavors of candy canes, and we mailed some Christmas letters to soldiers in Iraq from there so they could be post-marked from "Santa Claus". Despite all the dazzling goodies in the castle the thing the kids liked the most was the collection of Webkinz animals.



I really liked this Santa Claus totem pole/ light post.



And of course there was a parade with Santa Claus, and the Catholics were kind enough to loan out St. Nicholas too.