We went on the North Pole Express! Of course they couldn't call it The Polar Express due to copyright infringement and all that wonderful stuff, but it's basically the same thing. The title of this post comes from the way my cute little nephew would YELL that phrase last year. It was HILARIOUS!
Way back in October my older sister asked us if we were interested in doing The Polar Express thing in Heber for Christmas. I knew it would be expensive for our family, but I also thought it would be worth it. After talking with Eric we found where the money would come from and we were all set to go.
Like I said at the beginning of Granny's Countdown posts, I was going to keep it a secret from the kids until we got there, but it worked out okay having them know ahead of time. They were all so excited and cooperated to get ready.
It also worked out to keep them mostly well behaved while we had to get a tire fixed on the way to Heber. I had gotten a screw in the back tire and it was losing pressure slowly. Neither Eric nor I felt comfortable driving to Heber on a tire like that.Thankfully the weather was clear and so we got there in plenty of time.
It was a cold, cold night, but I think the excitement helped keep the kids warm while we waited to board the train.
As we got on the train we got special silver tickets, the kids got nametags, a lady came around and took a family picture. After the first little bit on the train we were given chocolate chip cookies. A little later on the train we got cups of Hot Chocolate. We got to the North Pole (by going South - hehehehe) and decided Santa looked a little cold, so we picked him up and he rode back to the train station with us.
Santa started to immediately visit with each of the kids, called them by name and gave them a special little bell. The look on my kids faces was worth the money. The look of such wonder, excitement and happiness. I wouldn't trade that FOR THE WORLD!
We sang Christmas carols on the way back. Tanis was chosen to hold a number sign for the 12 Days Of Christmas as was Shaylyn or maybe cousin T. I'm not sure exactly - I just know Shaylyn ended up holding it up. The lady that took our pictures came back and gave us the pictures she took. Only to THEN come back and ask if we wanted to buy any! I hate when companies do that - though I did think it odd they'd just 'give' us pictures. Thankfully, my husband knows how important pictures are to me and forked out the $12 for a mediocre quality picture. But hey, it's a good family picture!
We had such a fun night, made wonderful memories and I'm so glad to have had the experience. We even had fun trying to find our way home that night. GPS can be confusing at times... :)
My one regret that night is that we didn't get a picture of all the cousins in their matching jammies. Perphaps one of these days.....
Anyway, here's a few of our fave pictures from the night:
(In no real semblance of an order)
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