Polar Express 2013

Finally: the pictures from our Polar Express ride. It was a totally busy day and night. School for Peter. Preschool for Grady. Right after everyone is done, I take them straight to gymnastics on Fridays, so there was that too. In addition to all that, there was Grady's Christmas performance with preschool that we just had to skip. I couldn't manage to add another thing in to the day. I'm hoping it's something no one thinks about years from now... "I can't believe you didn't let me be in my preschool Christmas pageant." I hope not. I hope they remember all the stuff we did instead of the things we had to skip out on.

Anyway, after gymnastics we went to IHOP. We're sort of attempting to make it a tradition. We ate at IHOP after the Polar Express last year and this year it only worked to go beforehand because our ride time was so late.

Last year at IHOP there was some upset from Peter. He got Mac N Cheese to eat and then got really jealous of Grady's happy face pancake. When we got there this year (after talking about what happened last time!), Peter was still going to get Mac N Cheese! We had to overrule him and make him pick something else. Both of the boys were so hyped up and excited that they didn't eat much anyway.

I forgot how very cold it is waiting in line to get on the train. Lots of people brought blankets, pajamas, etc. But we made do with our jackets. Luckily it wasn't too cold on the train. Last year we had to use the bathrooms too and the port-a-potties were so cold and dark. This year we managed without any of that.

The Polar Express has real elves and chefs. They pass out hot cocoa and cookies, sing songs, ask trivia questions, and help with the reading of the story. Peter was not that impressed with the elves when he had to stand next to one, but both of the boys were really excited about real elves. I don't think they made any comments on the lack of pointy ears. Need to make a note to read more stories with elves.

They deck the Virginia Truckee trains out with stuffed animals, lanterns and stockings. They even have a real conductor coming by to punch your golden ticket. Each of the boys got the number of punches equal to their age (4-1/2 and 7-1/2). The train was so warm compared to the outside that all the windows fogged up. One of the elves came by and said "we've outfitted these trains with anti-fog devices. Here you go" as she handed out paper towels.

Once we arrived at the North Pole, where there are dancing elves and reindeer, Santa got on the train and handed out the first gifts of Christmas (bells for everyone). He stopped to pose for pictures and was very nice and jolly. As Boris had his big Pentax camera with a monster lens to get a picture of the boys with Santa, Santa says "ah, testing out the limits of those optics". I think Santa must have a side job in some sort of engineering field.



When we got back to the depot, we all walked carefully off the train and headed back to the car. Boris wanted to get one more picture of all of us standing near the train's V&T sign so we climbed up near the engine. Right as we got nearer, the train blew it's whistle and Grady freaked out. Whistle started and he turned tail to run away. I grabbed him so we could still get a picture, but he wouldn't go back on the ground. He said right afterwards that he thought it meant the train was going to start moving.


We got home at almost 10pm. The boys were both really tired from our day, but very happy about the train ride. They rang their bells and carried them around for a while. A couple of the bells ended up tied onto the Christmas tree. The boys are very wonderstruck that we can all hear the sound of the bells so it proves we all still believe in Santa.