The Christmas Train

This is our second year to go to the Christmas Train. www.christmastrain.com We went with a group from church and had a wonderful time yet again. We would highly recommend this to anyone that lives in the area and hope to take our kids as long as they will go with us.

Our first stop upon arriving (after a potty break, of course) was to meet Santa. Ben had asked if Santa would take his picture or if we would take Santa’s picture. Guess he does not remember seeing Santa last year and how the whole thing works. When we got to the room where Santa was waiting, Ben got really quiet. We helped him up on Santa’s lap and then handed Elizabeth to Santa for their photo. This is the result. We love Santa in theory, but are not thrilled about having to sit on his lap.

After stopping for dinner, we headed to get in line for the train. Mom made the mistake of saying that there would be live scenes related to the life of Jesus and one of them would have the baby Jesus. Well, Ben proceeded to ask a million questions because he thought that THE baby Jesus was going to be there. After many explanations we settled with the understanding that there would be some actors pretending to be these people from a long time ago.

We waited about 40 minutes to get on the train and the children did remarkably well. We boarded and Ben was thrilled to be on the train. As we drove by various displays and scenes, he kept asking which side the actors would be on next so he would know where to look.

The kids were still doing well, so we let Ben play on the playground for a while. Mom watched him climb a really tall slide with seemingly too many children on the stairs. We relocated to a shorter slide shortly after and then got further sidetracked by the carousel. Dad and Ben rode the carousel while Mom took pictures. Elizabeth hung back with some of our friends and started thinking she might be done for the evening. So we made a stop at the coffee shop and packed up our car to make the drive home. Until Ben fell asleep he inquired about the sheep and shepherds he had seen in the live nativity scene and we assured him they would get to go to a barn for the night to rest where it was a little warmer.

Can’t wait till tickets go on sale for next year!!

Countdown to Christmas

We have done an advent calendar where Ben gets to open a little door each day and find a treat or a paper describing an activity we will get to do. He has loved seeing what each day brings and can hardly contain himself from opening the next one. So far we haven’t had any early opening, mostly because Mom threatened to take away any prizes that were opened before it was time. Here are a few of our highlights. Some were repeated, but so far all have been enjoyed.

· Build a gingerbread house and decorate it (foam craft kit).
· Have a special treat after dinner.
· New ornaments for our tree.
· Make and play an instrument using a cup and string.
· Watch a special Christmas movie.
· Go to the Christmas Train!
· Make and eat S’mores.
· Go on a tour of Christmas lights.
· Bake cookies.
· Wrap Christmas gifts for teachers.
· Christmas tattoos to play with.

Milestones

Elizabeth has reached all sorts of milestones in the last couple of weeks.
· She stands on her own quite well.
· She took her first steps right before Thanksgiving.
· She waves ferociously any time we are coming or going or when she thinks we should be coming or going.
· She likes to clap and dance to music.
· She is now 10 months old.
· E got promoted to a bigger toddler carseat. She is still backwards, but loves her “big girl” chair.

Ben has also been up to some “firsts” of his own.
· He got to help Dad hang the Christmas lights outside this year.
· He enjoyed Thanksgiving turkey and mashed potatoes.
· He upgraded to a big kid carseat so Ellie could use his old one.
· He started his advent countdown (which he doesn’t remember doing last year).
· He is learning Frosty the Snowman to perform at school.
· This one has gone on a while, but he is pretty pleased that he is wearing underwear full time during the day and pottying “all by himself”. He now requests to go alone and close the door. It is pretty hysterical.
· Ben is discovering new words and concepts each day. This morning’s new idea: “I would like for it to rain in Africa so it will not get me wet in Tulsa when I go to school.” Alright.

We are in the midst of our season of celebrations, yummy foods, shopping, decorating and enjoying family. We hope to post some of those highlights soon and hope you are enjoying your Christmas season already.