This year, we took Danielle with us- she's never been to the North Pole- or the museum. The boys were only to happy to show her around their 'stomping ground'! We kept teasing her all day, because she wore brown pants almost the same color as her skin, so we would tell her "Ack, you forgot to put pants on!" We think we're very clever! ha ha
After a few hours at the museum, it was time to board the "Polar Express"... and everyone was so excited! This year we remembered to bring our Polar Express book, so while the narrator read it over the loud speaker, Zach followed along with his finger. He is such an awesome reader!
Kyle scored a window seat this time... and he was mesmerized with the sights! We would have to tap his leg to get him to pay attention to the excitement going on inside the train.
The dancing waiters brought us out 'hot, hot, hot chocolate'... and the tap dancing and song on the loudspeaker really made you feel like a reenactment of the movie... the cookies didn't hurt either!
Then the conductor came through to punch our tickets...
Kyle could hardly believe his eyes when it was punched with the letters 'BE' in his ticket. (In the movie.... the conductor ends up punching 'believe' in the main characters' ticket)
I think Danielle was just tickled to be riding the train. I don't think she believed me that we were going on a train ride to the North Pole. So when she seen the actual Polar Express, looked at her ticket- and realized we were going for a ride- she grinned from ear to ear! :)
Kyle was getting so sleepy with the movement of the train, and he kept resting his head on Danielle's shoulder. Can you tell he's starting to glaze over? lol....
And soon, he was o-u-t!
Which was too bad for him, because he missed the highlight of the show... Santa! He boarded the train to give everyone the 'first gift of Christmas' which was a magic bell from his sleigh.
We did our best to wake him up, but he was zonked! Danielle and Kyle just stared at him like he was Magic that appeared right before their eyes. It was a bit magical, even I must admit.
Of course, the train Hobo was there to cause a little havoc. He kept insisting that all the bells were broken, and Santa had given us broken bells. We knew he just didn't 'believe' like the rest of us!
After our trip back from the North Pole, we decided to do a tiny bit of shopping. I told the kids to keep it under $10, and my boys pushed the boundaries when they picked a toy for $12.99. Danielle picked an oversize pencil for $2, and I told her she could spend the other $8- but she refused. She said she was happy enough with her purple pencil, and didn't need anymore.
Kyle scored a window seat this time... and he was mesmerized with the sights! We would have to tap his leg to get him to pay attention to the excitement going on inside the train.
The dancing waiters brought us out 'hot, hot, hot chocolate'... and the tap dancing and song on the loudspeaker really made you feel like a reenactment of the movie... the cookies didn't hurt either!
Then the conductor came through to punch our tickets...
Kyle could hardly believe his eyes when it was punched with the letters 'BE' in his ticket. (In the movie.... the conductor ends up punching 'believe' in the main characters' ticket)
I think Danielle was just tickled to be riding the train. I don't think she believed me that we were going on a train ride to the North Pole. So when she seen the actual Polar Express, looked at her ticket- and realized we were going for a ride- she grinned from ear to ear! :)
Kyle was getting so sleepy with the movement of the train, and he kept resting his head on Danielle's shoulder. Can you tell he's starting to glaze over? lol....
And soon, he was o-u-t!
Which was too bad for him, because he missed the highlight of the show... Santa! He boarded the train to give everyone the 'first gift of Christmas' which was a magic bell from his sleigh.
We did our best to wake him up, but he was zonked! Danielle and Kyle just stared at him like he was Magic that appeared right before their eyes. It was a bit magical, even I must admit.
Of course, the train Hobo was there to cause a little havoc. He kept insisting that all the bells were broken, and Santa had given us broken bells. We knew he just didn't 'believe' like the rest of us!
After our trip back from the North Pole, we decided to do a tiny bit of shopping. I told the kids to keep it under $10, and my boys pushed the boundaries when they picked a toy for $12.99. Danielle picked an oversize pencil for $2, and I told her she could spend the other $8- but she refused. She said she was happy enough with her purple pencil, and didn't need anymore.
We did have a giant bit of drama after our walk back to the parking garage. We couldn't find our keys, and John insisted that I put them in my purse (which is also my camera bag)- so I emptied it out on the parking garage floor. No keys. Since the museum was just closing down when we walked past, I told John to run as fast as he could back there to see if we could find someone to let us in to check lost and found.
I emptied my purse a second and third time, and no luck. I was in a panic... until I looked up and seen Danielle wearing the backpack we brought. I just about ripped it off her shoulders, tore into it, and thankfully found them!! I dumped everything back in my bag, and ran back to the museum to find John, but didn't see him. We were getting ready to run towards the train, but just then Danielle seen him through the window.
I made them sit on the sidewalk, and I ran across the road to get his attention (which was no easy task on a busy evening) screaming like a crazy woman. We thanked the staff... and navigated back towards the van. By the time we got there, and into the van, John and I were laughing- and crying- and the kids thought we were nuts.
Sigh. What else is new? And for the record... John put those keys into the boys' backpack... if you were mistakenly thinking I lost them, lol.
We ended up going to a 50's style diner for dinner... and had some incredibly yummy food! It was after 9 when we got home, and we had told Danielle's grandma we would keep her overnight. So the boys were so excited to have their first slumber party... and I was so thankful for three kiddos that fell asleep watching Curious George- all with big ol' smiles on their faces!
I love this time of year... :)
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