Adventuring Abroad: Visiting Santa's Grotto & Christmas in England

We spent our Christmas in England this year, and were lucky enough to have both sets of our parents visit on either side of Christmas. As always, it was interesting to see the differences in how the Brits prepare for and celebrate Christmas. The pubs are completely packed for the entire month of December as various groups (work and otherwise) go out for their Christmas celebrations -- complete with Christmas "crackers" and paper crowns! We also noticed that there is a nice, slower build-up to Christmas as compared to the States. In America, most people wait to start their Christmas decorating and events until after Thanksgiving. Since England doesn't celebrate Turkey Day, they have no guilt about starting a gentle build-up to Christmas in mid-November. It feels less hectic! They still do talk about "Black Friday" and have sales, but it's not at all like the craziness that happens that day in the States.

We booked a visit to a local Santa's Grotto while Paul's parents were visiting. It's analogous to visiting and getting a picture taken with Santa in the States, but much more elaborate. Each "grotto" is different, and I think some are huge and include amusement rides. The ones local to us varied in terms of what was offered, but none were that fancy! At some grottoes there are crafts, or snacks, or Santa reads a story to the children. Ours ended up being perfect for Charlotte's age -- not too elaborate (she wouldn't have appreciated it anyway). You pick a time online and pay the fee (ours was less than 10 pounds).

We were running a bit late due to a minor user error with the GPS, and I was worried we would miss our time slot, but it was fine. We joined a short line and we were taken back as a family during the time slot. We walked down a path between Christmas trees to the "Elf Workshop" where Charlotte got to decorate a small wooden reindeer. After she was done, she got a Certificate of Graduation from Elf School (or something to that effect) with her name written on it. Then we went in to visit Santa (ahem, Father Christmas)! He talked to her for a minute and asked what she wanted ("Pwesents"), then she took a picture standing in front of him -- initially tried to sit on his knee but she wasn't having any of that! [She didn't cry but was squirming and a bit wild-eyed.] She also got to pick a present from a stack -- I kind of commandeered that part and chose a set of toy boats for the bathtub, as I thought she would have a meltdown at trying to choose only one from the large pile available. It was a nice, calmer experience than the American mall Santa visit!

Decorating her wooden reindeer in the Elf Workshop

Visiting Father Christmas... looking a bit scared

Otherwise, Charlotte (again) loved opening all the gifts she received for Christmas -- many thanks to our friends and family who shipped various gifts to her!