The Polar Express

Hi Friends!! Ooh how I have missed bloggyland! I have finally figured out how to use the external hard drive to download my pictures and then use my school laptop to blog...not so much learn, but give in!! It is a lot harder for me to blog this way and I have been fighting it...but to no avail, I have given in and I learned, thanks to my hubby. Our hard drive to our desktop finally gave way to it's slow death and with Christmas...well we decided that we would just use our school laptops! So anywho...I hope that all of you had a fantastic Christmas and a great start to 2010! We did and now that I am up and blogging again, I am sure you will read all about it very soon! Now onto bigger and better things...

Since Ryan and I are both teachers, we are fortunate enough to have 2 weeks off with the boys! Most of our vaca, we have been hanging out and relaxing, but we did take an overnighter with extended fam up north!

Can you believe that only 2 and half hours north of The Valley of the Sun...it is COLD...VERY COLD...COLD enough for SNOW?!? Well it is and even though the boys were born in Michigan and played in snow for the first years of their short lives...it was though they had never seen the white, cold, wet stuff before!!

Well up north in Williams, there is The Polar Express. This is a train ride that takes you to the North Pole to meet Santa and is based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg. My parents treated us and my sister and niece to a night away to experience the magic! We, all 8 of us, left the sunny, warm valley and headed north on Tuesday 12/29. The farther north we headed...the faster the temperature dropped. BBBRRR...for someone who grew up in Michigan...I have become a big, fat wimp when it comes to the cold!

Before boarding the train, we stopped at this quaint little diner just around the corner from the train station. For those who were brave enough...PJs were donned! I was a brave one...me and the kids anyway!

The boys looking for the train...

Kennedy, Brendan & Colin standing in front of the train...

All Aboard...

Once inside, you found your seats and got settled. It was warm enough inside the car that we were able to take off our coats and get comfy.

Once the train started...the conductor came around to check tickets and hot chocolate and cookies were passed out. YUMMY!

After the goodies, they read the story. Our chef, Mike, walked up and down the aisles showing the pictures. The story was read by Liam Neeson.

After the reading of the story we passed the North Pole all lit up outside. We saw Santa in his sleigh waving to us from outside. Little did we know that he boarded the train and came through all of the cars to say Hello and give each kid a sleigh bell.

He even stopped and talked to my parents...giving them each a bell as well! When we got home, I made the bells into ornaments for our Christmas tree!

The kids chilling out, listening to their bells as we head back to the train station.

The ride lasted about an hour and a half and great fun was had by all! While riding we also had a sing-a-long with Christmas Carols!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for a great time! We can't wait until next year!!