It's finally time for one of my favorite holiday traditions - our 4th annual Holiday Train ride! And the fact that we barely made it in time to get on the train because we were running super late was not going to cloud the day for me. We were on board and ready for some fun!
Especially these guys! They love Christmas and they love the train - could there be a better combination?!?
Ok well, Henry was pretty obsessed with the lights for the first few minutes and couldn't be convinced to stop hitting the switches. Oh to be amused by such little things again...
Every year we do the train, it seems to get better and more organized. (Or maybe our kids are getting older and easier to hang out with?). Either way, they handed out the coloring packets and ornament craft right away to get the kids busy. You can also see that we have learned from the crayon deficiency of previous years and packed our own tin of crayons for this year. :)
I helped Thomas tie the pipe cleaners together for the ornament and he was stringing the beads on in no time. A few minutes later I realized that Matt was still trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing to get started. I could have told him, but it was more fun to take a photo and tease him. Married life is the best! :)
But don't worry, Matt figured it out and Henry finally got to work on his ornament. He did a pretty good job putting it together - his dexterity is definitely improving!
Every year when Santa has come by, Thomas has hid or refused to look at him. But apparently that is in the past, he was all smiles when Santa stopped by our table. He even happily smiled for the camera.
Henry was not at all interested, but we tried to get him in a photo anyhow. You can see he's way more interested in the jingle bell ball than Mr & Mrs. Claus. Well that and the candy canes...
Speaking of which, I don't know what it is with these boys and the candy cane balloons. I think they are the lamest balloons that are offered, but this year both of them wanted it! Of course, they didn't stay bent for long at all and ended up becoming swords. Believe it or not, I call that an improvement...
Also notice the extra candy cane hiding in his pocket that Henry charmed from Mrs. Claus. Candy cane obsessed, I tell you!
Then the carolers came through! Henry loved them (or his hot chocolate...), but Matt not so much. In fact, it reminded me quite strongly of the expression Thomas had on his face two years ago. I guess they are related! :)
This year, the boys were excited enough about the magician to be front and center. I couldn't exactly tell what was going on because we were a few rows away, but it looked like Thomas even helped on a magic trick! Also, look at the adorable penguin balloon... So much cuter than candy canes!
But the best part was when Thomas guessed the number of candies in this bucket and got the whole bucket! We waited pretty late to go write a guess down, so we only had a few number slots left to chose, but apparently it was the right one. Look how proud his is of himself! I managed to win one of the trivia games too, so we kept up our streak of winning big (aka: coffee cups) for the past several years!
We convinced some friends to join us with their two boys this year, so we even managed to get a family photo! All around a great outing with the kids and I am sure their sugar high will wear off eventually. :)