Railtown 1897 on Mother's Day

We went up to Railtown 1897 for a little mother's day outing. We used to come up here and ride the train all the time when Connor was younger and super into trains. Callum has gotten into trains lately, though I would say not to the degree that Connor did. But I still thought he would find it fun to ride the train. And he totally did. It was cute watching him say "train" to every person that walked past him on the train. 

Callum got to go to the front and watch the locomotive for a bit. We didn't stay up there for too long, as I didn't want to be up there when the train blew its whistle, as my kids have a history of freaking out from loud noises and I didn't want to wait and see if Callum was the same as the other two. Callum enjoyed sticking his head out the window a couple times. But he mostly just enjoyed watching out the window. 

It's fun going to places like this as the kids get older because even though they may not be as excited about riding the train, they appreciate looking at the other trains and stuff more. They notice different looking trains and were interested in seeing the stuff that had been in movies before...and I got a kick out of seeing a painted backdrop used with a train scene the '90's. It's amazing how quickly technology changes things. I don't imagine them using painted backdrops in movies anymore. 

^^ Callum was very excited about his own ticket 

Also, apparently this wasn't the first time we came up to Railtown for mother's day. I guess it had been so long since we did it that I didn't remember. But Connor would have been the same age as Callum when we came up here for mother's day, so that's kind of fun. 

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A Weekend with Curious George

When I saw Connor after school on Friday, the first thing I noticed was the yellow and red backpack he had with him. This meant he was chosen as "star student" and got to take Curious George home with him for the weekend. Every kid in the class gets to be star student at some point. It lasts for a week, but begins with the weekend with Curious George. You are supposed to take pictures and write about what you and George did that weekend. Here are some of the pictures from their weekend together.

 

^^ I LOVE this picture and look at their matching facial expressions. Too adorable, if you ask me.

  

 

^^ Every kid has to color a picture of Curious George and this was Connor's.

Connor chose to watch Curious George on tv with George on Friday night. Then, he cuddled with him when he went to bed. I was slightly grossed out thinking of all the places George probably has been, but could it really be any worse than what Isla does with the stuffed animals she sleeps with?! On Saturday, we took George up to Railtown to ride the steam train. Then, when we got home, he got to go check out the chickens at our neighbors house. I didn't take any pictures of George on Sunday, because, well I had to print the pictures out on Sunday and one can only do so much!

Connor got to tell the class about his weekend with Curious George on Monday and show them the pictures. I peppered him with questions about it, but only got that it was "good". Aww, to have been a fly on the wall and hear what he said to his classmates. 

Next up, I have to write Connor a letter that the teacher reads to him in front of the whole class about why he is so special. No pressure or anything!!!

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Railtown 1897

^^ Who gave her permission to grow up?! Isla just looks so grown up here to me!!!

We live only 45 minutes away from Railtown 1897. It's a sister museum of the Sacramento Train Museum, meaning one membership gets you in both. Given that it's pretty close to our house, we have gone up there many times over the past two years and taken a train ride. Given that summer is coming to and end and we haven't been up there in a bit, I thought it would be fun to head up there on Saturday.

Our journey up there got off to a rocky start. Connor got a little yogurt on his finger. He was upset about that and in his fury managed to dump the container of yogurt all over himself and the car. So we pulled over on a one lane each way highway for me to clean up the mess...I ended up wiping it off Connor, then throwing a towel over the mess in the car and calling it good. About 5 minutes after we started driving again, Connor said he had to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW. The problem was, we had to wait until there was enough of a shoulder on the road to pull over. Finally that happened and he got to live out his dream of peeing on the side of the road. The rest of the trip went fine, but my expectations of the day were certainly lowered by this point!

Once we were at Railtown, things went really well. We managed to score seats in the caboose, which we have never ridden on before because they normally don't use it. And, not only did we get to ride in it, but on the first half of the train ride, we got to ride up in the top of the caboose! I know I enjoyed it more than the kids. It was an incredible view, but really noisy because we were level with the train engine. Of course, the trip back down the hill was just as much fun because the engine switched sides and they kept the back of the caboose open, so we got to watch out the back of the train. The kids enjoyed it more than being up top because it was much less noisy and they could run around and look out the different windows.

 

I'm glad we went. Even though things got off to a rough start, it really was a good day. Plus, I realize my kids won't think trains are cool forever and I really do enjoy getting to do all these things with them.

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Christmas Train

Last year my mom and I took the kids up to the Christmas train at Railtown 1897 and this year we did it as a family. I don't know if it was because we took the train at noon or what but there was literally no one on our train. I'm not complaining though...I'll take no crowd to crowds any day.

Though the highlight was seeing santa on the train, I'll be honest, my kids really don't know who santa is. Even the other day, I pointed at a picture of santa and asked Connor who it was and he said "the man who brings presents to kids." It's not that I don't like santa, I just don't overly push him in my house. Back to our train adventure...really, the kids were looking forward to the train ride.

Besides santa being on the train, there were some other cute Christmasy touches as well. There was an elf going around and putting glitter stars on everyones cheeks. She put them on me and Ian too...of course, the kids just thought it was fun wiping them off, but whatever, I liked it! There also was a man who went around playing Christmas songs on a violin and it was fun when everyone on the train would start to sing along.

But santa, he was the main event. Neither Connor or Isla would get near santa. They wouldn't shake his hands or give him a high five. This hilarious picture about sums it all up.

They did warm up to the point that they would smile at santa, but neither of them ever talked to him. And it was hard just getting Connor to nicely accept a candy cane from santa's elf. Thankfully Isla was a little better with the elf.

 

I'm glad we went and I'm glad the kids had fun...even if they aren't too sure about santa. But I'll be honest, I am never too sure about santa either (the santa figure in general, not the usually sweet old men who play him)!

After the train ride, we found the smallest of patches of snow for the kids to play on. Connor didn't seem too impressed. He said "it's ice" and we tried explaining to him that, well, snow is basically ice. But, Isla was loving stomping around in the practically non-existant snow.

Now that we have done a Christmas activity, I am finally feeling like the Christmas season is upon us. I still have a few more things I would like to do with the kids before Christmas. Hopefully we can cram it all in the next week and a half. Seriously, why has Christmas snuck up on me this year?!

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Happy Mothers Day...

...to me!

I actually got my present on Saturday. And given that Ian was having trouble finding what he was looking for, halfway through his shopping excursion he let me come along for the ride. And we found me the perfect present. A pot and plants for our front porch...to go right in between my birthday present from the inlaws, some chairs.

Anyway, I am not a huge celebrator of holidays. I am more into the calm and laid-back approach to celebrating. I also don't like to be the center of attention. So my mother's day celebration was perfect for me. We packed a picnic lunch and headed out of town up to Railtown 1897 (which is one of the California state parks thats slated to close July 1) with my parents.

It was the perfect weather and the perfect place to take Connor. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and I think the rest of us enjoyed watching the excitement in his eyes. Though, when he gets really excited about something, he becomes very quiet and calm (remember him meeting the train conductor?) so you wouldn't know he was excited. And given that I am the "life documenter" of the family (aka: photographer), there are no pictures of me with my kids on mothers day. Epic fail. Oh well. There's always next year for that!

We ended our afternoon of fun by picking up ice cream on our way home. Yummy! It was the perfect un-celebratory day of celebration for me.


**You can read about our first trip to Railtown 1897 here

An Unconventional Easter

For Easter this year, we decided to go to church on Saturday night and to head out of town on Sunday. We took a day trip up to Railtown 1897 in Jamestown. Given that Connor is obsessed with trains, it was the perfect little getaway for him.

We got to ride a real steam train. Connor had been talking about it all week long. He was so excited. It's so stinking cute to hear him say "ride steam train". He enjoyed the ride. He wanted to look out the window the whole time. I was afraid after the ride was over that he would freak out when we made him get off the train. Thankfully that was not the case. Yea for not having to deal with a public meltdown.

After the train ride, we have a picnic outside and wondered around for a few minutes before heading back home. Ian's parents went with us and needed to get home to start working on Easter dinner for the family. But it worked out perfectly because both kids slept on the car ride home. Connor fell asleep holding Ian's hand. How cute is that?!

And since we are members of the Railroad Museum in Sacramento (yes, we are cool like that), we get into Railtown 1897 for free, so I am sure we will go back for more train rides in the future.