Life at a "Swell's" pace: Search results for Macy's

Every year, since moving to Oregon, we have made our yearly trip to Macy's to see Santa and the wonderful Santaland. Skylar had just turned two the first year we went, and ever since that year (2004) we have enjoyed the Macy's Santaland so much. The Christmas decor is so amazing at the Portland Macy's and makes the kids feel so special. Our dream would be to see Santaland in the original Macy's in New York.

Maybe one of these Christmases soon.

Such a fun Santa Clause. He was so sweet and nice.

A few more birds to add to my collection. I have quite a collection going now. It's the highlight of the Macy's trip to me. New birds each year. Love it!

The train used to run along the top of the ceiling back in the 80s and the kids were able to ride on it around Santaland. Now it sits on the stage where the kids can still get inside, but it's just for show now.

Skylar is so big now that he can't even fit under the frame of the snowman anymore. :(

While we were there, Skylar mailed his letter to Santa in the Macy's Santa Mailbox.

If you don't have a Macy's near you, you can create your own letter here next year!

Skylar was "Elfing" it up the escalators on the way out. He said next year he needs to dress like "Buddy" the Elf to pull it off completely. Ha!

See our trip to Macy's last year here.

Our great friend, MacKenzie caught up with us and came along on our Santa adventures too. We made a stop at Peacock Lane in Portland and looked at the wonderful Christmas lights.

What happened this time last year?

On our way up to Portland it was raining and then the sun was trying to creep through the clouds. There was several moments of rain/sun/rain/sun and it gave way for a nice sight of a rainbow.

It was later in the evening once we got into Portland and the sun peeking through the clouds was nowhere to be seen. But that didn't deter us from heading straight to Macy's and B-lining to Santa.

Skylar-Braden wrote a very matter-of-fact "quick" letter to Santa before we got there.

The rain started in once we parked. Typical Oregon weather.

We headed up the escalators to the street. We ended up parking below the street and had to head up to get to street level. It was a nice alternative than walk in the rain.

We went downstairs in Macy's and Skylar-Braden was able to fix his letter to Santa at the Believe desk. He was happy to make it look less messy. He is getting so big, but still loves to mail the letters. Paint me proud!

A replica of the old monorail that used to travel around the Santa room. It stopped operation in 2005 and at that time the Macy's was known as Meier & Frank.

All of the reindeer in the stables.

Macy's layout at Christmas is one of the best I've seen. It's such a great treat for us each year.

He is next to see Santa!

It's always fun to look back on the pictures we get each year and see how much he has grown.

The actual train cars from the children's ride that used to be part of the Macy's Santa Land.

Downton Portland was our next stop. We wanted to see Hipster Santa, but the layout of where he was sitting was a bit off. There were more adults around than kids and the rain started coming down. It was more of a comical sight than a Christmas sight. It gave us all a good laugh though. Leave it to Portland, Oregon to bring out a hipster Santa for the holiday.

The 2015 Christmas tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square. This area is considered Portland's living room.

The Pioneer Courthouse.

The infamous Martini Glass in the West Hills. This martini glass is a reminder to drivers to call a cab if you've had too much to drink. It went away for a few years and this year it finally made a comeback.

After leaving Portland we headed toward Tigard to Washington Square. We had only one stop inside Washington Square and that stop was the LEGO Store. Skylar-Braden loves the Pick-a-Brick Wall and sometimes, even if you aren't a LEGO fan, it's a pretty neat wall to see. The rainbow of colors are almost mesmerizing.

Skylar does some fun LEGO reviews and Matchbox Car reviews on his YouTube Channel. If you are a LEGO fan, you might find it informative.