Choo Choo

Thursday we headed up to Heber to ride the Polar Express. We didn't tell the kids where we were going and they almost went crazy trying to guess. I was afraid it was going to be a let down after all the guesses they made. You see, a few years ago we loaded them in the car, didn't say where we were going and went to Disneyland. I mean, can you top that for a kid? Well, yes, for Jack if we surprised him with a Colts game, he would be more excited. But anyway, they wanted to know if we were leaving Utah. I hedged and said maybe (you know, the north pole isn't in Utah). They wanted to know why we had their pajamas with us and if they would make it to school the next day. At this point, I was really worried they would be disappointed. But then we got there and Jack saw the train and realized where we were and they were both thrilled. The thrill lasted for a minute for Bella and then she became terrified. I was perplexed by this at first because she loves the movie, she asks to watch it all the time, but she doesn't want most of the things that happen in the movie to happen to her. She had to make sure we wouldn't be getting on the top of the train. That we wouldn't be kicked off without our tickets, and that we wouldn't slide off the track and over a giant ice field, or get lost in Santa's workshops. I remember when I was little I thought it would be a blast to slide into the adventure of a movie. I always hoped I would find the Goonies when we went to Astoria, and I always wanted to go to summer camp because summer camp in movies was fabulous fun. Bella is much more grounded than I was apparently, but still believes in the magic of movies. I reassured her she would be okay and dad and I would be there the whole time. That there would be cocoa and cookies and someone would tell us the story. She relaxed a few minutes into the whole thing and started having a great time. A great time until we got to the north pole. Santa was there and he came on the train. Bella has a history of not liking Santa. And she has a little sister that feels the same way. He is persona non grata with them both. Later on the ride Mrs. Claus came on the train and they both loved here, so maybe it is a beard thing.

(I know, this is a mean, mean picture)

The kids had a ton of fun and loved the bells they got at the end of the ride from Santa's sleigh. I don't know that we would go every year, but maybe again when Sophie is older. I think the whole thing would be a bit more magical if when we arrived at the north pole, Santa was standing in snow, instead of in dry grass. I can't complain about that too much though. It has been nice having mild weather so far. We've been able to be outside a lot more and walk to school a lot more than in previous years. But I do want snow for Christmas, it seems so strange without it.