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Friday, December 4, 2009

All aboard!!

The shiny black engine, puff of steam and loud whistle were enough excitement to make Dylan jump right out of his skin! We had been reading the book every night in anticipation of our ride on the Polar Express.

The trip promised a scenic train ride to the North Pole station, where Santa and Mrs. Clause would board the train. Sleepy servers would provide hot chocolate and cookies. And Santa had a special gift for every boy and girl on the train!!! It sounded like the perfect thing to get us into the holiday spirit.

Not to be the grinch and all, but holiday spirit was not what I was left with!

I was left explaining to Dylan why the train conductor was calling winterized boats icebergs. And why we could see cars driving along the highway on the way to the North Pole. Not to mention why there was no snow when we got there!

I was left with a distaste for anyone who willingly dresses up as Santa but clearly doesn't like interacting with kids. He seemed annoyed when asked to pause for a moment to take a picture and certainly was NOT his bright jolly old self!

I was left wondering if I was on the Polar Express or in an episode of Sesame Street. Our "helper" didn't sing very many Christmas carols but had a variety of puppets that had they own personalities and matching voices to go along with them. Somehow I missed the connection to Christmas...maybe he was hoping there was a talent scout on board.

I was left utterly annoyed at a mom of one of the kids in Dylan's class, who stuck her kids with me in my booth and sat and chatted with a friend in another. I've never formerly met her other than passing by at pick-up and drop-off so I thought the gesture was a little nervy. But it was actually a LOT nervy, because her kids were unruly and Dylan didn't even seem to be enjoying his classmates company. Not to mention I now have random kids in all my pictures!



I was left with an never-ending ringing in my head. All Santa was good for was to provide every little boy and girl aboard with a bell. And this was only the half way mark of the trip. So as you can guess, the bells never stopped ringing the entire way home!

Alright now that I got all my Scroogeness out, there were parts of the trip that I loved.

The kids excitement of being on the train was contagious.


The hot chocolate really tasted like melted chocolate bars just like the book described!


When asked what she wanted for Christmas, Camryn asked for pizza!!

Cookies can make any situation fun!



And just being able to give them my undivided attention for 2 hours was worth it. I think in the long run we really did enjoy ourselves!



But Dylan's really gonna have to lay on the guilt if he wants to go again next year!!

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