A Ride on the Polar Express

We left an evening earlier than planned for our vacation to Wyoming so we could hitch a ride on the Polar Express. For those who are unfamiliar with the Polar Express, it's a book/movie about a boy who rides a train to the North Pole to see Santa on Christmas Eve. I haven't read the book yet (it's on our reading list for December) but the boys *love* to watch the movie. Needless to say, they were so excited to hear that we were going to ride on not only a train, but the train to see Santa.

 The train left Sunday afternoon and departed from Georgetown, CO, about 45 minutes outside of Denver. Upon our arrival, I *made* Hunter take a picture with the gingerbread man who was wandering around outside. I tried to get JP in there too but I couldn't pry him off of my leg.

 The view of the river with the snow on the banks was breath-taking as we crossed the bridge to hop on the train.

 Because we bought coach tickets, we had two cars to choose from to sit in. We opted for the end car because Santa was riding in it. What we didn't realize was it only had one heater in it so it wasn't terribly warm. We weren't freezing though!

 As soon as we settled in, we had the babes take pictures with Santa, and they hated it.

 You couldn't even pry her fingers out of her mouth when Charlotte made it back to daddy's lap.

 I even managed to hand off the camera a few times. For some reason, JP has been refusing to have his picture taken lately, so I was tickled to get a picture with him, even if he looks a little mad about it.

 At one point on the train, we went over a VERY HIGH bridge that looked to be a million years old. The view was nice, but my nerves weren't...

On the way back to the station, Mrs. Claus stopped by to say hello to the kids. Again, JP wanted nothing to do with her, but Charli warmed up to her. An elf had passed out bells to all the kids on the way (along with cookies to everyone!) and on the way back, Charlotte was able to fit the entire bell into her mouth! Talk about a mouthful!

Little Stevie had a fun on the train ride too! 

Hunter and JP didn't want to sit on his lap when we boarded the train, but by the end of the trip, Hunter really warmed up to him. JP was still a little iffy, but he sat on his lap anyways...because I put him there and Santa didn't let him down without a picture :) Thanks Santa! 

Hunter even had some quality one-on-one time with him where Santa helped him re-tie his bell.

By the end of the trip, JP willingly gave Santa a hug on the way off the train. Such a fun trip!