Mrs. Claus visits Coast kids for breakfast at Lynn Meadows Discovery Center

GULFPORT -- One of the North Pole's most famous natives made her first holiday appearance on the Coast on Saturday at Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport.

Mrs. Claus, wife of Kris Kringle himself, hosted Jammies and Jingles, a pancake breakfast that kicked off the Christmas season at Lynn Meadows.

"This is our first year to do Jammies and Jingles," said Cindy DeFrancis, the museum's executive director. "This is our first Christmas event this year. We're so excited to have Mrs. Claus here. She's a very busy person but she was not too busy to come to Gulfport for our breakfast."

About 40 children donned their most festive pajamas and wore them to the pancake breakfast, where they made crafts with their parents, took "selfies with elfies" and listened to Mrs. Claus read one of her favorite Christmas tales.

"We try to do a lot of Christmas family events," DeFrancis said.

Santa will be arriving Wednesday at Lynn Meadows for the second annual Kids Street Christmas.

"We will have probably 500 or 600 people at the Kids Street Christmas," DeFrancis said. "We have a Christmas event just about every weekend, including gingerbread-house making."

Grace Barton, 9, wore her shiniest Santa cap to the pancake breakfast and a red nose much like that of a famous reindeer.

"I'm excited to see Mrs. Claus," she said. "But I'm not going to give her my Christmas list to give to Santa. I have an Elf on the Shelf and I've already given him my Christmas list."

Grace said she had been a good girl this year and that her wish list is very simple.

"I want some duct tape," she said. "I like to use it to make crafts."

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Mrs. Claus visits Coast kids for breakfast at Lynn Meadows Discovery Center ."