Polar Express!

In year's past I had heard about other towns having a Polar Express on their local railways and was always very envious. As you well know, we love trains AND Christmas around these parts, so it sounded like so much fun. When I found out that the Virginia Truckee Railway was putting on a Polar Express this year, we jumped on it, and boy am I glad that we did because they sold out very quickly. I told my mom that that was what I really wanted to do for my birthday this year, so the Friday before my birthday, our little family, my mom and dad and Heather's little family went together.

They encourage children to wear pajamas just like in the book, so that we did. I think my kids are pretty darn cute in their Christmas jammies.





The train was decorated SOOO beautifully. The whole experience exceeded our expectations. We all got golden tickets that the conductor punched wildly!  We also all got hot chocolate and cookies and got to enjoy those while they read the story over the loud speaker and showed us the photos. We road the train to the North Pole and we looked out the windows to see elves dancing and of course SANTA!  Santa boarded the train at the North Pole and gave us all special jingle bells.  It was very special and very neat.  The kids, especially Addy, LOVED the jingle bells. We even had a special visit from the 'spirit'. He told Izzy to keep that ticket safe in her show, so she did.  After we finished the ride, we sat on Santa's lap and got a group shot.

































A blurry pic of the North Pole:












WE made some seriously amazing memories and I am sooo glad we had the opportunity to ride the Polar Express!