North Pole Here We Come (sort of....)

Barbara has wanted to take the girls on the Polar Express train the last few years, but it has never worked out and I am honestly glad we waited until this year because they both really loved it.  I still think it is pretty expensive, but G and Pa paid so we were all happy campers.  Thanks!!!  It ended up that we could all go on G's real birthday and the weather was so beautiful that evening.  We weren't too chilly at all and walked down to The Landing to look at the tree and fountains before the train started its trek to the North Pole.  The girls put on a great show and danced to the Christmas music.  They had a blast and there was a little crowd watching them too.

When it was time to get on the train, the wait was a little long. It took a while to call our car and Amelia decided that she was scared of the train's loud engine.  We talked her out of being scared and Elise could have cared less about the noise, but she was definitely tired of standing there.  Once we made our way to the train, all that was forgotten and we settled into our dome.  We were lucky enough to sit upstairs and we had an awesome view.  The attendant in our car kept saying we were going to the North Pole and Buzzy was very skeptical. She kept insisting there was no snow on the ground and there was absolutely no way we were at the North Pole.   I finally had to suck all the fun out of it and say were were just pretending.  This seemed to satisfy her.  Sheesh.

 We read the book and had hot chocolate and cookies and got to see the Branson Trail of Lights on the way back through.  Fun!!  Amelia and Elise were receptive to Santa and didn't act crazy and afraid like we had anticipated.  He gave them jingle bells (like in the book) and they were fit to be tied.

It was a fabulous experience and the girls talked about it for daysss after. AND there was snow as we got off the train.  We brought a little of the "North Pole" back with us.