All aboard! The day after we arrived at Grandma's, it was time for our Polar Express train trip. As you may recall, we first did the Polar Express trip two years ago:
Obviously, things have changed quite a bit since then! Everyone had a fun time last time and we were up for going again.
Due to a perfect storm of delays we nearly missed the train, but thanks to some fairly reckless driving we made it! The train started rolling about 2 minutes after we got on. The kids were very excited to be there.
Griffin, Sophia and Jake showed off their Golden Tickets. They were wearing super-cute matching footie jammies from Grandma. The snowflakes on the jammies glowed in the dark!
We started out with some yummy treats to have with the hot chocolate they served on the train. (In my defense, I did not intend to wear sweatpants on our outing -- in our unexpected rush to get out the door I didn't get a chance to change. Sigh.)
Both kids had a lot of fun!
This picture cracks me up, Grandma looks like she's sneaking up on us.
During the book-reading portion, the kids were mostly too jazzed up to focus. We read the book and watch the movie a lot over the holidays, so everyone was up to speed.
Griffin and Sophia had a great time watching out the window. At the end of our trip to the 'North Pole,' there were a bunch of houses with Christmas lights and a big Santa sleigh with Santa and his reindeer, elves, etc. We opted for the early trip this time (at 5 pm), so it probably wasn't quite dark enough to get the lights' full effect, but still was pretty.
After seeing the North Pole, we sang Christmas carols on the way back. Sophia and Griffin knew most of the words! Vivian loved everybody singing.
Griffin's favorite Christmas carol is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which he got a chance to sing.
Then Santa came through our train car! He gave everyone a bell and signed our Polar Express book. And he asked everyone what they wanted for Christmas. The kids were thrilled...
...except for Vivian, of course. She loved watching Santa across the train car, but when he came to our seats she turned her head away and cried. Too many pictures on Santa's lap! As soon as he moved on, she was fine and wanted to watch him some more.
Griffin and Sophia took turns ringing their bells to see if they could hear them because they believed in Santa. Then all the grown-ups took a turn (we all believed too).
After the train ride we went to the train museum, where the kids saw lots of model trains. But their favorite thing was probably playing with the train table.
It was a fun trip, we're so glad we got to go!
Christmas Eve was full of fun activities like baking cookies, organized by Aunt Ginger. The kids all had fun decorating.
Vivian was ready to decorate!
She actually did a much better job than she did at home, putting the sprinkles on the cookies instead of in her mouth (for the most part).
The boys were of the 'more is more' philosophy of cookie decorating.
Good times.
Getting a picture of all 4 kids together and looking at the camera was a challenge.
Another try. They may not be organized, but they're cute!
Then the kids got to open one present from Grandma! They were very excited.
Vivian liked Grandma's Christmas decorations, especially her tree (which had unbreakable ornaments, thank goodness).
Before we went back to Granny's house, the kids left cookies and milk for Santa inside and then went outside to spread the reindeer food that Griffin made at school. (The oatmeal-and-glitter mix is supposed to show the reindeer where to stop.)
