Train riders

The kids had a blast riding the train to Rock Hill for a visit. Thanks for picking us up and dropping us back at the station, D!

Train Video

From the NHVR (see below). The train goes about 20 minutes outbound, then it unhooks, bypasses the coaches, and hooks back on the other end to pull us back to the station. This is what it looks like.

More Trains!

We went back to the New Hope Valley Railroad for their Christmas Train again this year. Again, loads of fun! Jack and Lily had a ball, in spite of the cold. Jack and Lily were both a little hesitant about Santa, but really just a little bit. They quickly warmed up and shouted their toy requests!

We went with a big gang from our neighborhood, and Lily had a blast hanging out with her very favorite person in the world, Josh from next door. He's in the blue track suit.

Day out with Thomas, part II

Day out with Thomas!

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Holy smoke. It is impossible to describe the pure unadulterated joy that was had by the little ones at the "Day Out with Thomas" event at the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. For those who don't know, "Thomas the Tank Engine" is a favorite of the under 6 set, and they bring an actual, real, live coal-fired engine dressed up like Thomas to various locations. They also bring tons of other fun stuff for the kids, and the transportation museum is also really fun.

We started off the day lounging in our Thomas Engineer hats and blowing our Thomas Whistles (very dang loud). Soon there was a "No blowing the whistle in the house" rule in effect, although it was largely ignored. Then we made the 1.5 hour trip to Spencer. As soon as we got there, it was like meeting Elvis (before the fat), the Beatles, and the Pope all at once. Just pure excitement. They were about to pop. Cindy and I just couldn't help but laugh for about the first 30 minutes because they went berserk.

Eventually we got to ride in one of the coaches Thomas was pulling. That was the highlight. Then they had little tables of Thomas themed toys set up everywhere for the kids to play with. That seemed to be a big hit. Also the model trains got lots of attention. Of course, there were things to buy, and we did our part to support the economy, and the Thomas empire. It took approximately 3.2 miles for sleep to set in as we left the museum.

Christmas Train, 3

As you can see, there was no delaying the enjoyment of the candy. Lily's favorite word is 'candy,' although it comes out as something like 'ganyee.' Once the train gets to the end of the outbound trip, it unhooks, then passes back by the cars and hooks to what was the rear of the train. Then hauls us back to the station.

Christmas Train, 2

The appearance of Frosty the snowman was much ballyhooed by the younger set all over the train. The only thing that outdid Frosty was the anticipation of Santa! (Daddy couldn't keep the camera still over that section of track). We got really quiet for Santa, but no fear or crying. Candy canes!

Christmas Train

We took the kids to the Christmas Train at The New Hope Valley Railway. Santa Claus was on the Train! The kids had a ball, but Daddy was cold!

More State Fair

As you can see from our trip to the State Fair, Jack is much more outgoing with things he's familiar with, like the playground equipment. (One of the other, bigger kids was very kind and helped Jack climb up to the slide). But when Jack is faced with unfamiliarity, like riding the circus train by himself, he's all business. He did manage a little Mona Lisa smile by the end.

More Trains

The other thing that they have at the railroad museum is a model train area. Jack was absolutely enthralled, and he made several laps around it chasing Thomas the Tank engine! All of the other little boys were similarly engaged. Needless to say, he was pretty tuckered out for the car ride home.

Lily didn't really care too much for the model trains, but she did like to roam around. She even managed to find the one muddy spot.

Train Ride

Cindy had a great idea, and so we took the kids to the New Hope Valley Railway. It was perfect weather. First we got to see the steam engine getting re-fueled, played a little on the caboose, then we boarded the open cars. We expected to have to sit on Jack to get him to stay in the car, and he was true to form in the station. But when the train started moving, he got really serious and sat very still, primarily in Mama's lap. Lily just loved the soothing motion of the train and almost went to sleep.

Here's some links to some videos of the train:

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5