Marketing Gets Them Early

My boys are obsessed with Thomas and Friends. They sleep, eat, and breathe while dreaming, talking and thinking about Thomas. Liam, is typically a pretty loud and rambunctious kid so, when he's in his room and it's quiet I usually wonder what he might be up to. This time, when I peeked in I found him laying on his bed studying the Thomas catalog/brochure that comes in the package with each train. My boys seem to think this brochure is almost as exciting as the train itself. How clever of them to include one of these with each train. Just another way to get them wanting more. Here's Liam at 3 yrs old planning for his next purchase ...or should I say mommy's next purchase.

All Aboard The Polar Express

Today we made a trip to the California State Railroad Museum followed by a ride on the Polar Express. Although this trip involved some planning, a small expense, and a short road trip it was well worth all of it. If your kids are train lovers, and you haven't been to the train museum it definitely a place to visit. It's an amazing space with amazing sites and an interactive train table area. I know you're probably thinking, "My kid can play with his train table at home" and I agree but the ambiance of this train museum makes the train table experience unique. The boys absolutely loved it.

Even more thrilling though was the ride on the Polar Express. An absolutely magical one hour train ride that took us to the North Pole. We were served cookies and hot chocolate while the Polar Express story was narrated with live action performance. Waiters tap danced down the aisle, a hobo came through questioning the passengers "do you believe", a view out the window of Santa and his reindeer while Santa reviewed his list, and Santa on board the train handing out sleigh bells to all as a fabulous finally. If there were any questions at all, after this evening my kids are true believers in Santa.

Steam-tastic Fun

The kids had a great time today at the Washington Township Railroad Fair at Ardenwood Historical Park. We met some friends there and enjoyed this outing together.



We got to ride a real historical steam engine by the name of "Deanna"



The kids were thrilled with all the steam and noises coming from this steam engine.




We got to see several different railroad displays.




We searched for "Hobo Signs", a scavenger hunt activity that kept mommy busy.



The boys and mommy and daddy, experienced their first calliope. This was pretty amazing, a piano like instrument with brass pipes that ran on steam apparently much like a steam engine train.




And we enjoyed music by "The East Bay Stompers" whom played all afternoon. I'd have to say this was Liam's favorite part of the whole outing. He was mesmerized by the band, it was fun watching him. And we enjoyed people watching as there were many people there who were dressed in period clothing.



Ardenwood's grounds are just beautiful, with gorgeous mature trees, the fabulous Patterson house, the crops and animals making this historical park a fun and educational outing for the family. The Railroad Fair was just one of many events Ardenwood hosts throughout the year. We're looking forward to attending several of the fall events.

Train Party Has Left The Station

Aidan had his 5th birthday party, it was a train party, sorta. I'd been fretting over this birthday party and what train activities to have. I went on the search for stuff, with no luck, dinosaurs sure, cars sure, trains sorry. I was really trying to stay away from having a full fledged Thomas the Train party. Although we had a Thomas cake I had to draw the line there. I was having a creative block on this whole train thing and really couldn't come up with anything. I ended up creating a mural at midnight (yes, midnight and at 1 am I was making a t-shirt with the number "5" on it, call me crazy) using a roll of butcher paper and a roll of duck tape. The duck tape was used for train tracks and I made a train with Aidan's photo in the window. The kids got to decorate this mural with construction paper and markers. The only other activity at the party was the jumpy house. I ordered some train conductor hats as party favors which bombed. I envisioned seeing all the kids running around with their hats on, but in fact nobody wanted to wear them expect for maybe Miles for a short while.

I wanted to make it pleasing for adults too. Since it was a late morning party, we served Peets coffee and mimosas for adult drinks. Bagels, cream cheese, lox, baked ham (one of Aidan's favorites), an artichoke heart fritatta, and a variety of cheeses and fruits. The biggest hit there was the tray of egg rolls my brother-in-law and sister-in-law showed up with. Thanks!

Anyways, despite all this, as my friend Rachel stated, "the minimalist party was a hit" The kids were entertained long enough, right up to cake time. Aidan had a great time!