Our Annual Father Christmas Visit

For the last four years we have visited one particular place to meet Father Christmas. It’s a local garden centre called Pughs garden village which is about a 10 minute drive from where we live, so it’s very local.

Every year they have a different theme, and this has definitely become a family tradition. The theme this year was Candy Land, and a lot of effort and time is put in to making it a very special experience for the children.

What makes Christmas so very special for me when you have little ones, is that they 100% believe as I wrote recently about believing in Father Christmas, Disney etc.

This year didn’t disappoint one bit. We all caught the Candy Land train to the North Pole. The girls were given special fuel sticks just in case the train couldn’t get up the hill, which of course it couldn’t so all the kids put their fuel sticks in the train to power it up the hill.

Once we had reached Candy Land we arrived at the Gingerbread factory where the girls got to throw balls to make lots of candy for the gingerbread and help Mrs Claus make the gingerbreads in her kitchen.

Then we made our way into Mrs Claus’s kitchen where they helped Mrs Claus make gingerbread and sing jingle bells with the elves.

Then we moved onto the forest of fruit trees and the girls had to see what fruits were growing on the trees.

Finally the big moment arrived, and we went into Santa’s grotto to meet him. The girls got to ask Father Christmas what they wanted for Christmas.

Watching my five year old twin girls is always a very magical moment. They simply don’t doubt that he is anything but real, which never fails to bring a tear of happiness to my eye. It’s when I really wished I was five years old again, and the world has not taken my belief away. The innocence is to be treasured for as long as possible.

The girls sat and chatted to Father Christmas and told him what they would like for Christmas, then one of the elves took a picture of them sitting next to Father Christmas.

Every year for the last four years we have always purchased the snow globe photo, as a lasting memory, looking back over the photos is wonderful seeing how the girls confidence has grown and now feel totally comfortable sitting on their own talking to Father Christmas.

This particular visit could have a bittersweet feel about it because they still totally believe. This could be the last year they believe if somebody lets the cat out of the bag at school or wherever. Which of course is the start of taking away their innocence, which nowadays seems to disappear at far too young an age.

This is a great value visit to see Father Christmas with a family ticket costing around £38.00. This year they are also raising money for my favourite local charity Ty Hafan a children’s hospice. They are hoping to raise £11,787, which is what it takes to run Ty Hafan for 24 hours.

Do you have a family tradition of visiting a particular Father Christmas? I would love to hear.