A Trip to the North Pole

The girls and I had a great afternoon and evening together (Ryan is in Chicago for a few days).  They were very curious when they saw our Countdown Tag #4 that said "Train Ride to the North Pole."  They have never been on a real train before, so they weren't sure what to expect, but they were pretty excited, and they asked tons of questions.  So, after church we ate lunch, played a bit, packed up and headed north to Chattanooga where the "North Pole Limited" Train ride departs.  They were ready!

I intentionally left at nap time, and my plan worked: both girls slept for well over half the trip.  We arrived about 1.5 hours before the train left which gave them lots of time to look around and get a feel for things.  First thing we did was have a picnic snack in the trunk of the Pathfinder; they thought that was lots of fun.  We enjoyed Cheerios, Fig Newtons, grapes and an apple.  It was a beautiful day, so when we finished up we gathered our things and headed over to check out the trains.  The girls loved climbing up and seeing how big a real train is. 

 The loved the bright red caboose.

I overheard someone say they would make an announcement about 5 to line up to board; it was a few minutes before that.  I looked outside and a few people had already gathered, so we headed on out and were second in line.  We ended up with great seats thanks to this.  The girls enjoyed rainbow candy canes while we waited to leave the station.

 Once the train started to move, the girls immediately hopped up to start looking out the window.  They weren't sure what to expect, and they didn't want to miss a thing!

 After a couple of minutes, a lady in the middle of the train car welcomes everyone and then reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas."  She did a great job, and she walked up and down the aisle, looking at each child and making sure they all saw a page from her book.  When she finished, they handed out gingerbread cookies and chocolate yoo-hoo to drink.  The girls were excited about their cookies and the fact that I brought water with us; none of us touched the chocolate drink.

 After all the treats were handed out, another lady begins to explain how we get to the North Pole.  She explains that in a few minutes, we will ride through a magical tunnel where we will pick up speed which will allow us to get there so quickly.  Once we cross through the tunnel, we'll be in the North Pole.  She explained that any houses we saw belonged to the elves who live there; if a house light is on, that meant the elf was out at Santa's workshop making toys, but if the house light was off, the elf was either resting or playing in the woods because they like to hide there.  The girls were all too happy to look for those elves as we progressed down the tracks.  There were a couple of light displays too which they enjoyed.  Soon, we pulled into North Pole Station, and who should be there to greet and wave to the train but Santa and Mrs. Claus!  The girls were beyond excited!  Here they are waving out the window.

 This picture didn't turn out great, but that's Mr. and Mrs. Claus waving to us (and the other passengers).

 The girls couldn't take their eyes off of them.

 A few minutes later, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived in our car.  Since we had been so early in line, we were all the way at the front.  We were the first people Santa stopped and said hello to.

 Again, the girls were very excited to see the big man!

 Santa sat down to snap a picture and talk for a few moments.

 The kind lady across the aisle snapped this picture of all of us too.

 After talking to Santa, Mrs. Claus gives each passenger a jingle bell with a rhyme attached explaining that the bell is from Santa's sleigh and whenever you hear it, you know Santa is near.  After the guests of honor spoke to each passenger in our car and moved on to the next car, the lady came back up to lead us in some songs (Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming To Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and explain that we would go back through the tunnel which would return us home.  Lily spent the whole time before the tunnel looking for the elves; finally, she was certain she saw one with his pointy ears in the forest.  She was thrilled.  Towards the end of the ride, Santa and Mrs. Claus walked through the car again saying "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!"  They disembarked the train and waved good-bye to the train.  We pulled forward about 50 yards and were back at the station. 

When we left the train, we grabbed a little sandwich and chips from their cafe to eat as dinner in the car (keep in mind it was just after 7:00 PM at this point).  We headed back outside to see the light displays that were now shining so nicely.

Greetings from Lily and Mia!

 Again, not a great photo (I'm too tired to work on them right now), but you can see the girls peeking out around this snowflake; this was Lily's idea.

 They both really liked the soldier that waves to everyone, so we snapped a picture with him too.

Finally, we got back to our car, and I definitely had two tired girls with me.  I changed them into pajamas, divided up dinner and started the 2 hour drive home about 7:45.  They ate and then we called Ryan because both were so excited to tell him about the fun they had.  Then both were sound asleep by about 8:20.  The ride home was uneventful, and I easily brought both of them in and put them ride into bed.  Mia didn't say a word, but Lily told me "That was fun.  I can't wait to see what we'll do tomorrow."  Lots of great memories made today!