Last week were were able to celebrate Christmas a little early and receive our first present from my in-laws. We discovered that there is an actual Polar Express train show that runs in a city near us. We were all excited to hop on board and see what we were getting ourselves into.
We were served hot chocolate and cookies as soon as the trip started. Bear was obviously in heaven ( no need to mention his train obsession again, right?) We were given a sweet golden ticket that the busy conductor came by to punch. We all enjoyed having the book read on the trip and singing Christmas carols but of course the highlight of the show was Santa coming on board. I was so pleased to see that Bear was not the least bit apprehensive to talk to him. In fact when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, Bear shouted "blue Thomas!!!" with such certainty that it made all of us laugh including Santa.
Like any outing with kids it isn't always some incredibly picturesque experience Here's what these pictures don't capture. Two stir crazy little boys especially Wolf who was ready to get off the train a mere half hour into it (the trip is about an hour and a half), discovering that your older son gets motion sickness and well... having to change him out of his special Christmas pajamas that my MIL and I so carefully went hunting for the day before, the stir crazy feeling that you get as a parent when things don't go as planned and a trip that may be a little too long.
Despite those setback I wouldn't in anyway consider this trip a failure. I enjoyed the extra cuddles from W once he settled down and B was perfectly fine after he, shall we say, cleared his tummy. I brought an extra set of pajamas so all was well. I love that we now have this memory as a family. These stories are the type of things you will remember forever. No one ever recalls family trips that went smoothly and perfectly in fact I would venture to say that most of us have funny vacation stories that didn't go as planned yet we hold these memories dear in our hearts and retell them through laughter. I think that as a parent we want things to go well and smooth (who doesn't) but when they don't we must remember that this is life. Not always perfect, sometimes a little yucky but always worth it.
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