What do Santa, dinosaurs and armadillos have in common?
Maybe not a lot, but they were all in attendance at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Thursday evening for the museum's annual Holiday Happening.
The event brought visitors from the community to the museum for a free evening of crafts, museum exhibits and colorful characters.
In addition to a costumed snowman and the museum's dinosaur mascots, Santa Claus spent the evening at the museum -- and he definitely seemed to be the star of the show.
Katie Milligan brought her children to the museum and immediately got in line for Santa Claus. She had waited in line for about 30 minutes when she called her daughters back to the line because she was nearing the front. They had been playing under the bronze feet of the woolly mammoth.
When asked what she was going to ask from Santa for Christmas, Alysis Milligan, 6, knew exactly what she wanted, and she expected to get it.
"Hannah Montana boots, Hannah Montana pajamas," she said. "And I don't know if I'm going to get an iPod."
Morgan Olson, 8, also had her requests for Santa ready as she waited in line with her parents. She said she wanted Barbies and a pet shop, then she got a little too shy to talk to reporters.
Thursday evening, the museum also collected donations of food and toys on behalf of Food and Shelter for Friends. Each donation earned a chance for the donor to win a drawing for a $50 gift certificate from Excavations, the museum store.
The event was sponsored by Arvest Bank and the Oklahoma College Savings Plan, managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc.
Adding to the attractions at the museum were members of the Norman Ballet Company, dressed in their costumes for the production of the Oklahoma Nutcracker.
The production Dec. 20 and 21 at the Sooner Theatre uses the traditional Nutcracker music, but gives the ballet an Oklahoma twist.
Parents who brought their cameras to snap photos of kids with Santa also took photos of their children with the nutcracker, Clara and armadillos.
Amy English, 8, Katherine Cadzow, 8, and Susan Taylor, 7, were dressed as armadillos, although they said they also played mice in the production.
And they were eating up the attention the costumes were bringing.
English said it made her feel, "excited, happy, ... (like) a star."
"You feel special," Cadzow said.
"I felt it was, like, fun and great," Taylor said.
Over at the craft table, kids had the opportunity to decorate and cut out stars and make them into ornaments.
Tien Showers, 7, was intent on coloring in the star and not going outside the lines. When he finally pulled himself away from his task to answer questions, he explained what he was doing simply.
"Making a drawing," he said. "Making them into stars and stuff." He said he didn't know where he would hang his ornament.
Leoni Schlupp, 11, also decorated ornaments at the craft table. She was an old pro at the Holiday Happening, having been several times before because her dad is a museum association member. She said it's always fun to come to the event.
"They come up with new ideas a lot, so it's always really fun and there's always some kind of craft, which I think is really cool," Schlupp said.
She said she was hoping to get a photo with Santa as soon as the line died down. She'd seen the exhibits at the museum before, but appreciated the festive glow they had Thursday night.
"I think that it's really cool, and they're doing things really nicely," she said. "Like, all the dinosaurs have (Santa) hats on them, and I think that's really cool."
Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com
Local news
Santa and the holiday armadillo, what more could you ask for?
Santa and armadillos visit SNOMNH for Holiday Happening
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