A Minnesota soldier deployed to Afghanistan for the past 11 months arranged for a splashing way to surprise his four children, including one he had never even met.

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First Lt. Nick Aldrich, a combat engineer, traded his camo gear for a jolly red suit Sunday in the "Scuba Claus at Sea Life" show at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.

As his young kids looked up, Aldrich swam over them with a sign that read, in part, "Hi It's Dad. I'm Home!"

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Aldrich surprised 8-year-old Teagan, 6-year-old Jace, 3-year-old Solveji and 7-month-old Esmae, who was born while he was deployed, according to ABC News affiliate KSTP-TV.

"To see them light up with joy was priceless," Aldrich told KSTP.

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"It's everything that you would want and that you would wish for, to have your husband home for Christmas," his wife, Britta, said.