Friday, December 26, 2008

Yes: Sean, Ryan, Brenden and Connor, there is a Santa

Boy have things changed since I was little, and I'm only 25. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for my grandparents to convince my parents that Santa was real...I spent much of Christmas Eve sitting by the computer, with my four younger cousins (because Patrick's just too old to care) tracking Santa. They were fascinated that they could see where Santa was, and where he had been.

I suppose the concept and the technology behind Norad Tracks Santa is pretty simple. Norad uses Google Maps, and instead of placing thumbtacks for locations, they use little gifts. When you click on the gift, a little picture of that location will pop up on your screen. In some locations, NYC for example, they even show a little animated movie of Santa's sleigh flying through the sky. This is what amazed the boys the most (my mother too!).

Being that their older brother is of the age that he just doesn't care, he goes around telling them that Santa's not real. Norad worked in our favor because we were able to 'prove' that he is real. When you have kids of various ages living in one house I guess it's going to be hard to keep them all believing, but I think Norad's a cute way to keep them believing for a little bit longer.