Trains and Terrific Traffic
We rode this train
Alec got bored
Ava got really bored
but Benji got REALLY excited when he saw Santa coming!
We've been wanting to take the kids on this train ride for a while and decided that this was finally the year. I'm not sure why an hour and a half drive to take a two hour train ride sounded fun, but we were all excited.
We somehow missed the turn onto the interstate in the town the train was in, so after taking back roads to get there we missed our 11:00 departure by 15 minutes. Arrrgh! They told us that our tickets would be good for the 2:00 departure. Oh sure, that's great; the kids won't be disppointed, we won't have spent $50 for nothing, etc. Except for the fact that I had planned on using the rest of the afternoon to make the food for Ava's party the next day and tidy up the house.
We killed the time letting the kids run wild in the toy section of the local WalMart, and then found a place to eat (a not so yummy) lunch. We made it to the train early enough to get a seat on the coach car that had very cushy seats and a bathroom (whooooopie!)
The two hour ride was, shall we say, comfortable and bland. The visit from Santa and his elf with a candy cane was the 30 second highlight of the trip.
The drive home was a nightmare. What should have taken us just under an hour and a half, took us over three hours. We crept along at 35 miles an hour seeing nothing but tail lights, icy roads and police and ambulance flashers. We must have passed at least 6 police-attended accidents. I had lots of time to plan my attack on the messy house and lack of party food while I was trapped in the front seat!
I gotta say, though, Marvin really came through! We skipped church in the morning *gasp* and he spent the morning vaccuming, baking cookies, keeping Ava out of my hair, and directing the boys to pick up their stuff. Wow what a great husband! Thanks honey! Couldn't have done it without you!
Ava's party was great, we were ready in plenty of time, everyone had fun, and Ava was her usual silly self, yelling, "NEXT!" after she opened each present, and shouting, "Goodby, everyone!" as people left.
I can't believe she's two.
5 readers took time to leave a thought:
Happy Birthday Ava! I get that same flashback when I look around and realize I should have just saved all of my and my sister's toys in case I had a daughter...they are all the same!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who "skips" church in a cleaning/cooking/party panic frenzy! Maybe the fact that I spent the whole time praying "Please, Lord, let me get this all done" counts?!?
Happy Birthday Ava! The train looks like a lot of fun. Where is that?
Lol sounds nuts. There is nothing worse than being stuck on the interstate. Your kids are really cute and I'm glad the party went well.
Hmmm, we have a very similar train ride here not too far from Denver that goes to the "north pole" and I have been considering doing it as a family...sounds like a luke warm review.
I love the picture of Ava and the strawberry shortcake toy. I so wish I would have kept all that stuff!
Life with kids is never dull, even if they are bored, huh? Glad you made it home safely :)
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