Christmas in Dexter

Our little village loves Christmas. All cities have their different way of celebrating the season. Dexter's version includes a weekend of sales, ice sculptures, reindeer, bazaars, tree lighting, feasts, and Santas. Last year we participated in all of the above, but this year the events were all scheduled for one day, and that day just happened to be Sinterklaasavond, so this year we were limited to the bazaars, the library book sale, and Santas.

Calvin thought breakfast with Santa at the Lighthouse Cafe was the bee's knees. What can be better than enjoying pancakes with blueberries and OJ while the big man in red asks you what you want for Chrismtas and continually lets out a jubliant "ho ho ho"? Jon and I enjoyed coffee and a rare meal of adult conversation, since the kid was so taken with watching St. Nick.

Breakfast energied us for the rush at the library book sale. Have I previously mentioned how fantastic our library book sales are? Well, forget it if I did. We don't need any more visitors—we'd like to keep all the books to ourselves. This trip supplied us with a few more classics (Portrait of a Lady! It's within the next few on my to read list, too) and the obligatory handful of children's books (when I picked Calvin up from his afternoon class last week his teacher mentioned to me how very obvious it was that he adores books—I was proud).

The book sale stop got us in the mood for shopping, so after that we hit up the three Christmas bazaars—the Girl Scouts (got a great handmade ornament), the senior center (got a few dandy flea market type items), and the musem (got some great hand mades). This was actually our first trip into the Dexter museum, and I'm intrigued enough to add it to our "must do in 2010" list. All the antiques (old fashioneds, according to Calvin) were pushed out of the way to make room for the various sale tables (hand mades and baked goods), and for Santa and Mrs. Claus (really, Mrs. Clause in a rather short and flirty claus outfit complete with tights and elf shoes). Calvin's second visit (of the day) with the man in red went equally as well as the first. He didn't want to leave.

All that shopping left us just hungry enough to hit up the Koney Island on the way home for their lunch with Santa event. That made Santa number three, and the activity never got old. Last year Calvin's first Santa visit was in the Dexter Gazebo, and we hadn't prepared him for the inevitable "what do you want?" quesiton. He answered with "an African wild dog" last year. This year we were just as lax in our preparation, but Calvin was equal to the task on his own—he had an entire list that he rattled off, clearly and precisely, to each and every Santa, and while the items may not have remained in the same order, they were all there. It also happens to be the same list that he worked out when talking to his grandmother about it a few weeks ago. There is something to be said for cosnistency, and for a good memory.