Santa Has A Near Accident

Nora and her friends were so very disappointed in their vacation so far. They got in their bunks and were discussing when the ship was going to dock on the first island that they were going to tour. They could not wait to get off this ship and do some shopping and get warm! They had even heard that at one time there had been pirates living on the island they were going to visit.. Oh they loved stories about pirates. "Wouldn't it be so cool if we met a pirate when we get there? I heard they even have festivals celebrating pirates. I think that is so funny. There were robbers you know." Then they heard a commotion coming from the childcare area just down the corridor. "Now what is going on, I wonder," grumbled Nora.

When Santa opened the door to the childcare room he was met with a little girl, Riley, celebrating her birthday on her brand new bicycle. "Oh my goodness, little one! You almost ran me over," chuckled Santa. That is a beautiful new bicycle, but how about if you slow it down and visit with me for a few minutes?

"Okay, but do you want to visit with my twin sisters too? They might be too busy though. Let me see." Santa walked over to the two little girls and said, "Oh my goodness, you look so much alike, I will have to be very very careful next year at Christmas to get the right gifts to the right girls."
Riley smiled and said, "Lily is in the green shirt and Aubrey is in the gray shirt." Santa thanked her, waved at the little girls and went to the back of the room to talk to Grayson.

"He walked quietly over to Grayson and said, "How goes it, boy? Sounds like you have had a rough time down here."
"I sure have, Santa. Is it alright if I get off the ship and go back to the North Pole with you? I think I would like to make toys with the other elves much better than looking out for all these children. I thought there would only be one or two, but there is a zillion of them and I can't hear myself think!"
"That's just fine with me. I am going to get my elf sergeant at arms and get those elves back to the North Pole, but I just want to thank you for all your hard work. You will be rewarded that's for sure."

Addison had crawled out of her basket of clean laundry and was now on a mission to go shopping with her shopping cart; right through all of the toys! She just loved to go shopping and to play with all of the toys in this big playroom.

Johnny Belle was all dressed up in her mama's dress and was listening to Santa and Grayson talk. "I know who is causing all of these problems. I saw them over there in the corner. They had little red hats and little red outfits on. I could hear them giggle really soft over there. I don't think they belong in here, do they?" Santa patted her little head and said, "You know what, little one? I have a feeling you are exactly right. I will put a stop to this right now." She smiled as she watched him almost disappear into thin air. Everything was once again quiet and fun in the play room. There were nice ladies to play with until the parents came to get them. "Hmm, this isn't so bad. I might like to go on a cruise when I grow up too."

Once again Grayson was a happy little elf, but couldn't wait to get off this ship and be with Santa.

Nora felt the same way. Tomorrow they were going exploring on land! Hopefully they would get their land legs back soon. But first they were going to read all about the Pirate festival from some pamphlets that they had been given. "Pirates seem to be a big deal down here. I wonder why," she wondered aloud.

As the song goes, "he knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake" does not mean that Santa knows where all of his elves are all the time. That goes for the sergeant elf at arms as well. Peanut is missing!