Even after the full train car meltdown that happened on the Holiday Train last year, I still thought it would be fun to go again this year. And somehow, Matt was onboard with going with me and the boys. Then my mom ended up deciding to visit Alaska after I bought the tickets and they ended up selling out. Matt didn't seem to mind at all when I suggested swapping his ticket so she could go. Mom and I got the kids psyched up and headed out on the morning train!
Thomas still loves trains, so he had been talking about it all week. "Train on Saturday! Train on Saturday!" He was super concerned when it didn't start moving as soon as we sat down. I had to reassure him that it wasn't broken, we just had to wait for everyone to get on board.
Once we were under way, he spent most of the time hanging on to his Thomas train and staring out the window. We stopped once in town for some unknown reason and to avoid a full-blown panic from the little guy, his Nonni told him it might be because a moose was on the track. So he proceeded to tell us that every stop or slow down was because of a moose... ha!
Henry didn't seem to care one way or the other about the train ride, but he was certainly happy to be hanging out with most of his favorite people!
Thomas got this periscope toy in one of his most recent happy meals. I just happened to throw it in the backpack on the way out of the door (scrambling to be on time - shocking!). It was pretty adorable when he was excited to see it and proceeded to use it looking out the windows of the train. :)
The holiday train is seriously geared towards families, so there is very little time they don't have some sort of activity or distraction planned for the kiddos. This one was an ornament to create and coloring pages. Thomas is usually pretty into art, but that brown lines was about the extent of his interest today. However... At least he was happy staring out the window.
Even Henry got to try coloring. Can you tell he's concentrating super hard on making that orange crayon cooperate??
This is the view from the train going around the corner to Turnagain Arm - and also happens to be a view of our part of town. I couldn't find our house while I was taking photos, so I just took a bunch and figured I would zoom in later to find it. Turns out, we're a bit hidden, but I did see a house up the hill I recognized, so at least I know I can stop trying to see it every time we drive south. ;)
Mom and I switched spots after awhile so I could love on my little guys. Not that they were the least bit interested in getting a cute photo. Oh well, at least I can usually depend on one of the two looking at the camera!
This is when the carolers went through the car. Thomas was *not* impressed. He looks like such a grumpy old man with his glasses falling down and covering his ears. (For the record, they were not that loud - he does this move quite frequently...)
And then Santa showed up! That is about how I figured they would react...
We made an unexpected stop when people on the train started noticing sheep up on the cliffs. I think I counted over a dozen of them - you're lucky to spot one or two usually, so everyone in the car was trying to get photos. This guy staring back at us was my favorite - you have to wonder what they make of a big yellow & blue train...
Can you tell Henry is getting tired? I still maintain that the train ride is about 30 minutes too long - all the kids are either crashing or hitting a sugar high. It's a little brutal - the parental survivors should really get a reward.
Thomas was starting to get a little upset, so I handed off my phone to play his favorite word game. Look at his glasses - they are pretty much falling off his nose. We are definitely going to have to take them back. Also notice his dinosaur balloon in the background - him attacking me with that balloon was when I decided it was distraction time. So maybe it was more for my benefit... ;)
And we lost Henry... Both boys had a great time on the train and we'll probably end up doing it again next year. It's worth it until they're bored with it. :)