Choo choo . . .chugga chugga

I will make this as quick as I can.  Doodle seems to be in a growth spurt which requires only mommy to hold him all day long, preferably -in his opinion- nursing all day as well.  We are thankful for growing babies.

Okay, maybe I'm a little sad that he seems to be growing so quickly, but I am thankful that he is healthy and growing.

It just means that as I type this, there is a fussy baby in the background and I am wondering if it will take two days to finish this "quick post".

 We were able to get tickets to the BNSF Holiday Express train ride for military families.  If you talk to the kids, they will tell you we rode the real Polar Express!  Emma showed up in our hotel room with the tickets!  Talk about starting off the day in a magical way for the kids!

 All the excitement!

 We boarded the train about an hour before it left the station, so a couple of very excited phone calls were made to the grandparents to tell them where we were.

 Maybe Eric wasn't quite as excited as the kids. If you had seen his face going to the observatory the night before, you would realize that it was possible that all his excitement had been used up already.

 Doodle slept for part of the train ride. He also ate and flirted with the lady behind us.

Treats started with hot chocolate.

 Santa came and handed out ornaments and sang jingle bells with us

 A first for us, a picture with Santa and no one crying! We stopped trying to see Santa a few years ago due to all the tears and drama it created.  This year, it was all smiles !

 Unlike riding in a plane or a car, in a train we were able to get up and walk around. The back half our our train car had these huge windows to watch the scenery go by.

 There was a car with dome top windows.

 A train was passing us and Little Man couldn't figure out which way to watch.

In our car there was a balcony area with seats. Sweetness just lounging upstairs.

 As it got dark the lights shined. Each car was decorated uniquely for Christmas.

A fabulous time was had by all.  THANK YOU to BNSF railroad for allowing us this opportunity.