Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi Takes Kids to See Santa Claus in Wake of ‘Jersey Shore’ Exit

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is continuing on in life now that she’s putting her Jersey Shore days behind her. The New Jersey native is getting into the holiday spirit as her latest Instagram post suggests. She shared a photo of her three children sitting on Santa’s lap.

“The best Santa,” the caption read.

Polizzi gave birth to her first son in 2012. She welcomed her daughter in 2014 and her and husband, Jionni LaVelle, brought in their third child when Polizzi gave birth to their second son in May.

On Friday, the longtime MTV reality star announced she was stepping away from the show that made her famous. She shared the big news on her podcast, It’s Happening with Snooki.

“It’s definitely a hard decision,” Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi said, before taking a gulp of wine to gather the courage to spill the beans. “You guys, I love you so much and don’t hate me for my decision. But I have to do what’s best for me at the moment. I am retiring from Jersey Shore.”

“I am not coming back to Jersey Shore for Season 4 if there is one. And there’s a lot of reasons why, but the main reason is… I just can’t do it anymore,” she continued. “Literally, leaving my kids to film it is really hard on me. I try and quit every single day. I just hate being away from the kids. I don’t like partying three days in a row. It’s just not my life anymore. I want to be home with the kid. It’s just really hard for me to leave the kids and film the show.”

The news of her departure came as a surprise to her castmates on the show.

A source to PEOPLE revealed that some of the show’s team had a growing sense she was on the fence about continuing on with the series.

“Production knew that she had been thinking about this so they were not surprised,” a source told PEOPLE. “The most surprised are the cast, but I think they all understand that she is just exhausted and wants to try and do something on her own. I think she just is probably burned out.”

Jersey Shore premiered back in 2009 and eventually released multiple spin-offs, including Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in 2018.