The Polar Express

A week ago Sunday, we sat down with the kids to watch The Polar Express (with Tom Hanks) and we asked them how they would like to ride on a real train, just like The Polar Express! They got all excited and Jase and Ally wanted to! We proceeded to tell them that we would be riding The Polar Express on Friday night! We had bought tickets to ride the train and booked a place to stay in Palestine, Texas for Thursday and Friday.

The night before we were scheduled to leave, I got out to run an errand and guess what?? I got a huge nail in my tire. I ended up having a flat on the freeway, but a little shy of 2 hours later and roadside assistance, I was hooked up to a tow truck and headed back home. We ended up getting a new set of tires the next morning before heading out of town. It was time for a new set, but was not thrilled about spending that kind of money before vacation/Christmas/taxes... On the upside, what a blessing to be able to afford this inconvenience. Merry Christmas to us!!

On our way to Palestine, we took a little detour to a visit one of Shawn's old friends, Chris Williams. He and Shawn grew up together, fished together, hunted together, played football together; they were buddies from way back. Well, he was in a bad car wreck a few short months after graduating high school and he did not survive. I remember this was a very hard time for Shawn, and I can understand why. While I was not close to him, it was an emotional stop for me. It was very awakening to think that this could have been Chris: married with three children. I know and trust the Lord holds all things together, but humanly speaking it was sobering moment. I'm glad we were able to stop and reminisce about him during our trip.

We arrived and boy was it chilly!! It was misting some too, so that only added to the "brrrr rabbit" factor! We tried to brave the weather as much as we stand it, but ended up indoors most of the time!

Can I tell you that it was so nice to just relax?!? No where to be, just out in the country with my little family, it was great! This was one of the highlights of the trip for me: taking some time to breathe a little.

Friday night: The Polar Express!! We arrived over an hour early for the train ride, not knowing what to expect. We had no idea it was going to be so packed in the train station. And yes, it was still super chilly, like 28 degrees! So here we are, three kids dressed in pjs and trying to keep them bundled up as best as possible.

Here we are waiting outdoors to board the train! Can you say COLD?!?

We boarded the train and were ready to go! I think it helped that we had just watched the movie less than a week earlier and were refreshed on the details.

Here are a couple of videos from the train. These were pretty much recorded within 5-7 minutes of the train taking off. We had been singing that "Hot Chocolate" song all week long {and still singing it!}, so it was neat they played it.

The Chefs served hot chocolate and a cookie to everyone on the train. While it was nothing special, the kids really enjoyed their hot chocolate and cookie!

While we were snacking, The Polar Express book was read over the PA system. We brought the book with us and Jase followed along as it was read.

Once the book was finished, we came to the "North Pole" where Santa and his elves were. I read some reviews online where people were disappointed in how small the North Pole was and that the light display could have been better, but I thought it was fine. And really the North Pole was not the climax for us; we enjoyed all aspects of the ride.

The train came to a stop and we started heading back toward the train station. Then over the PA system they announced that Santa was on the train! Santa handed out bells to each child on the train and they LOVED getting the bells!

In the midst of Santa passing out bells, we are singing Christmas carols. The Chefs did a good job of doing motions to the songs and were constantly running up and down the aisles. Lastly, the conductor came by and punched a hole in their ticket. While he did not punch out letters to spell a word, it was still neat having him come by and make a presence before we got off.

Even with the cold weather, the train ride was well worth the trip in our opinion. We stayed at Bar - S Ranch Resort and it was a neat little place. The room we originally booked was located in a house that was built in 1891! It had so much character to it! The only downfall is that the heater was broke in it and it was pretty drafty, so we decided to switch gears and stay in the bunk house. In the long run, this was a better plan for us, as it gave the kids much more room to run and stretch out. Here are some pictures of the house built in 1891.

And on the way back home we drove through the town Crockett. We so had to stop there!! I read that the town was named Crockett because it was known that Davy Crockett had camped close to there on his way to the Alamo. Jase enjoyed visiting the local drug store and taking a picture in his coon skin hat!