The Polar Express

We finally were able to take the boys on the local version of the Polar Express called the North Pole Express at the Train Depot in Calera, AL. I say finally because I've tried for the last two years to get tickets and finally was successful (thank you Erin Coram!) by getting the tickets in July. We prepared the boys for their surprise trip by watching The Polar Express.  The downside of that was my safety conscious Joshua wasn't sure a ride on the Polar Express would be a good idea. In fact when we talked about it the conversation went like this:

Me: Joshua, would you want to ride on the Polar Express?
Joshua: No.
Me: Why not?
Joshua: It seems kinda dangerous.
Me: What did you not like?
Joshua: The part when the train was on the ice. That was not safe.
Me: What of the train didn't cross the ice?
Joshua: Hmmm, that might be ok.
 
My first hurdle was getting Joshua to wear pajamas to dinner. I asked him to try on some new pajamas when I got home from work. They were green and red and had Santa on them. Joshua was so excited he asked "Do you think Daddy will let me wear these to dinner?" I told him perhaps if he asked very nicely he would say yes.

My talented sister, known as Aunt Stoppie, made very authentic looking golden tickets so the boys could ride the train.We hid the tickets in the boys jackets. When we got to the train station we told Joshua to put on his jacket but he didn't want to because he said his new pajamas would keep him warm. And it's true, it wasn't that cold outside. Matt told him "Well why don't you just hold your jacket?" But Joshua threw it on the floor of the car insisting he didn't need a jacket. Then Matt said "Why don't we open our jackets to see if anything is inside them? I think I see something inside mine..." Finally  Joshua opened his jacket and saw the ticket and said "Wow! I have a ticket. It's Christmas magic."

Our very excited boys waited patiently to ride the train. Our group was big enough that we got one end of a train car together. There was music, singing, cookies, and chocolate milk. After a short ride to the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus came aboard and took pictures with the kids. The windows had some condensation on them so the elves on the train gave us some paper towels to wipe them off. When Santa walked into our car most of the kids went crazy. I asked "Joshua, don't you want to say hi to Santa?" He replied "Um, I think I'd rather wash the windows." And proceeded to wipe them off. We did get him to pose with Santa. Noah is a good sport and doesn't seem to have any reservations about Santa the way his brother does. We are excited about a fun-filled Christmas this year.

Noah getting on the "good" list.

Our best picture of all the kiddos together.