The Great Inflatable Santa Caper

The Perfect Plan

She had a plan. A scheme one could say.

We would convince mommy to leave the house on some errand (like it was going to be difficult to convince her to go get a cup of coffee in peace and quiet for two minutes) and then we would implement our plan while she was gone.

Little Bean and I were calling it, Project Inflatable Santa.

Project Inflatable Santa was a success!

We had received one of those front yard Santa in a Sleigh with Reindeer inflatables from a friend as a gift. Mom “didn’t know” about the gift… *wink, wink*

While she was gone, we’d inflate it, and then pretend we didn’t know anything about it when she came home. Surprise!

Well, it didn’t take much to get her out of the house to run some errands, and then Little Bean and I hightailed it outside to get-a-workin’ on her surprise.

It’s right about at this part of a story like this where things begin to go wrong. A gust of wind picks up the inflatable and we have an adventure on the roof! A pack of cats trample over it and we have to scramble to repair it before mommy gets home!

But, nope. Not today. It went up easy as can be. We found a nice spot, staked it in and sat back to admire our work, all within about 20 minutes.

Some days, the job goes easy. I wish there were more of those.

Santa inflated, stakes secure, lights on, we ran back into the house just in time for momma to come home.

“Oh my gosh,” she explained in a loud, overacting voice, “what the heck is on our front lawn!”

We ran to the front window and also expressed our surprise in loud voices. The dog must have thought us crazed.

“Well, I don’t know how it got there,” momma said, “but as long as it’s there, we ought to keep it, right?”

We both nodded vigorously.

And another holiday day slipped by into the night, while outside, Inflatable Santa road his sleigh forever.