All Aboard!

Who wants to visit the North Pole?   Me! Me! Me! (I mean Sarah and Leah).  Sarah's true birthday was the most eventful yet (well, except for the painfully Topsy turvy day she made an appearance in this world five years ago but she doesn't remember that one...)  I was searching on line for things to do with kiddos in the Cincinnatti area,and I ran upon this website for train rides on the North Pole Express.   Yippee!  We have never done anything like this before and my mom and dad would be in town for Sarah's birthday, so it was perfect.  We would all load up in the good ole mini-van and head North.  On a related note.  I  LOOOVE my mini-van.  I cannot tell you how much easier it has made our lives.  If you are thinking of getting one, don't hesitate!  OK, back to the story.

Of course, anytime we hit the road for an adventure, we call Aunt Amy.  She is the fun aunt...she is the aunt who is up for anything...we love Amy.  Now for a head count.  The four of us, Mom, Dad, Amy make 7.  This will be a tight fit for the drive, but we can make it with love and togetherness.  Here we are shoved in like sardines in the back seat of the minivan.  Thank goodness Sarah is only 40 pounds!
Our first stop was church in Cincy.  It was a wonderful service (that is, the time I was actually in the service).  Between bathroom breaks and a wiggly toddler, I don't know the last time I had an uninterrupted worship service.  Thanks to the nursery there, we had a little peace to think about our wonderful God.

Next up, lunch at Wendy's and a little shopping at some outlets.  We could only stay a short time, but we found a couple of good deals.  Now, for the main event!

Here is the family (minus me, the photographer).  Isn't it amazing how well our two families mesh?   Amy fits right in with my family and vice versa.  They should, we have known each other now since 1993!   Can you believe Chris and I have been together for 18 years?

If you are wondering what Sarah is doing, it is FREEZING here and she is doing her best to blow smoke. 

Amy kindly agreed to let me in the photo.  Sarah will not give up on the smoke!  Oh well,

I guess there will be no beautiful outdoor family photo in the works for us today.  But Sarah will never forget how to blow smoke rings in the air.  :)

The conductor says "All aboard" and it is time to begin our journey to the "North Pole"!  How exciting!
He even came around to each individual and punched our tickets.  He was truly authentic and I felt like I was in the presence of Tom Hanks himself. 

The inside of our train car was OK, but it looked more like a bus than a train.  Every train car looked somewhat different.  I only wish we had boarded the antique train at the end of the line.  They had seats facing one another.

What a cute photo of Chris and Leah.  She loves her Daddy so much!

Doesn't she look just like a little angel?  Well, looks can be very deceiving.   The following photos show you what it was really like riding a 45 minute train ride (each way) with little Leah.

We were physically sore at the end of part 1 on the ride.  Holding Leah in our laps for any amount of time is like trying to wrestle an alligator.  She is a child on the go and sees no reason why she must be restrained.  I guess this is why her ticket was free.  Whew!

Mom and Dad seemed to enjoy the sights as the train slowly progressed toward it's destination.

It was definitely a cozy ride. There was barely room for two adults in each seat. Needless to say, I think our rear ends are significantly larger than adults in earlier days. Whoops! Chris, Leah and I sat in this small space together on the sold out ride.

The train car itself was decorated with Christmas lights and decorations, and Christmas carols played the whole time.  It was really fun to sing all of the tunes from our favorite Christmas cartoons like Frosty and Rudolph.  Everyone stayed in good spirits.

Especially this one.  She knew we were closing in on the North Pole!

She can't contain her excitement!

Well, here we are,  the North Pole?  It was basically a slope off the side of the train track with a barn bought from Lowe's which was supposed to be "Santa's house" and a couple of tailgating tents with the hot chocolate.  The only real house to be seen was the one off in the distance here.

Here are the.. ahem..North Pole decorations.  Where are the elves?  Where is the magic?

Here we are waiting to see Santa Claus himself along with Mrs. Claus in their "home"

As you can see, large numbers of folks forked out a great deal for this ride.  Do you see the tailgate tent off in the distance?  Yeah,  that's classy.

Sarah went to the station for hot chocolate and then grabbed a pen and paper to write Santa a letter.

Look at the intensity.  It reminds me of Ralphie and the Red Rider Bebe gun scene!  Hilarious!

Well, here we are.. the big moment.  Sarah met Santa and Mrs. Claus while Leah happily stayed at arms reach with Daddy.  We literally occupy the WHOLE room with our presence.  Chris later discussed his theory with Sarah that this was not in fact truly the North Pole, but just an outpost because the true North Pole was just too snowy to get to that night.  We hope she bought it, otherwise, the magic just died at this location.

Well, the time has come to head home.  Don't get me wrong, we had a great time drinking hot coco, singing Christmas songs, and riding a real train. On the way home, the "elves" came by and made the girls balloon animals.  Sarah was pumped!   But I only hope in the future this company spends a little more money on the destination, so that little kids dreams of the North Pole aren't utterly crushed.  Chris and I have an idea for this type of thing running to a small town in our area with a train stop that runs right through the middle of the beautiful main street.  The idea is "gold, baby gold".  If only we had the money for start up costs, we know it would be a hit!  Oh well, stay tuned to see if this dream sticks or becomes just another one of our wacky ideas.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

A Very Special Birthday

Five years old!   This is a very special year in the life of a child.  It is the milestone year.  The year they go to school (yes, the REAL school with the yellow school bus), they delve into extracurricular activities that are more than introductions to sports, and they have memories.  REAL memories that they can recall even when they are old and gray (scary isn't it?).   They learn to tie shoes, ride bikes, and play video games.  This is the year when they turn into BIG KIDS!  I cannot believe this age is upon us already.  Time truly flies.  This year was a no-brain er in terms of party theme.  PRINCESSES.  We (by we I mean Sarah) has been planning this royal blast for over 6 months.  Her ideas were so big that I quickly decided not to even attempt to have this at our home.  Instead, I booked a room at our church.  Here are some photos of the big event.  Well actually, there are more than "some".  Thanks to my dad, I had so many photos of the event that it was simply hard to whittle them down. 

Believe it or not, Wal Mart did this cake. I found it online and fell in love with it. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I did not have to pay out the nose to get this made. Yay!

Sarah donned the dress that we have seen now for three months almost on a daily basis.  She was so excited to become the "queen of the ball".

The tables are spread with the food and drinks.

We brought a few toys from home to enhance the fun.  The castle was a must for this party.  The little ones especially had fun in it as you will see.

We are lucky to have kids tables set up year round in the fellowship hall at church.  All I had to do was set the table and we were ready to eat! 

I must say, this was a pretty chaotic and stressful week for us.  December was the snowiest and coldest in my memory.  We had to move the event back two days because of inclement weather.  It turned out great because even though we lost a few guests, we gained my parents, who were coming up for the weekend to have our early Christmas celebration and Chris's dad, who had to work the night shift during the week.  This allowed us to have one big family/friend party instead of two. 

The guests begin arriving.  Leah was especially happy to see her cousin, Alena.  I just love my niece.

Although it looks here like she was walking, Leah was actually crawling during this event.  She walked like a pro while pushing around chairs or anything that rolled.  All this would change during the next week...

Peek a boo!

This was her preferred mode of getting around.

Alena couldn't wait for Leah to get up on two feet.

Now that the little ones were occupied and looked after...

It was time to party!  Not one, not two, but three of Sarah's "boyfriends" came for the event.  I was interested to see how it played out with them all in one room, but it went just great.  She was very kind to all of her guests.  I was proud of her.  I was also proud of many of her male guests who dressed up even though the party sounded a bit "girly".  We had a couple of knights and Indiana Jones.  Yes!

We ate first so that the kids would have lots of energy to run around and hopefully, have a good time.

She is so proud of this party.  Much of it was planned by Sarah herself.  She loves a good party.

Leah is just content to play with balloons.  Balls and balloons are truly her favorite toys at the moment.

Our littlest cousin, Aubrey. She looks more like Ashley every day!

Then we split the crew up into boy and girl teams and had craft time.  The boys made shields and crowns and the girls decorated  castles and sand art tiaras. 

 

Here is Caden showing off the finished products for us. 

     Many of the girls dressed up.   Sarah had five of her best girlfriends in attendance. 

I am in love with this cute light up dress!  Macy looks adorable!

This is London, one of Sarah's little boyfriends.  He commonly talks to her about when they will be getting married.  So cute!

Look at how he looks at her.   I think he means business.   It cracks me up!  I was such a tomboy, few boys looked twice at me at this age.

OK, so I protested this game for months.  Pinatas are violent and expensive.  A lot can go wrong, kids can get hurt, etc.  When I found a crown on sale, Sarah begged and begged and I gave in.  I am so glad I did!  This was the highlight of the whole party.  The kids loved it.

Each got at least two turns before...

It hit the floor and absolute madness ensued!

Finally, it was time to open presents.  This was the only part that went a little long.  In hindsight, I wish I had kept our family presents home to open later, but most people stayed around for the cake.

Mamaw and her third grandchild.  Four grandkids...all girls.   What are the odds of that ?

Cake time!  Happy Birthday big girl!  What a fun birthday!  Although exhausting at this time of year, I am committed to making this special day full of good memories that stand on its own separate from Christmas each year.  I hope she loved it and looks back with fond memories.  Love you sis!