One of our favorite things to do is go to Pioneer Park & the Train Museum which is a minute from our house. They put the trains away for the winter but every December they bring one out and we go for a ride...no matter the temperature. This year we lucked out as it was slightly zero. So we all huddled in and sat under blankets. The trains are open air and the air is bitingly cold. out eyes were watering. Branden & I kept looking at each other, both thinking but not saying aloud.... why do we do this? It is too cold for open-air train rides! After the ride we eat terrible, store-bought, hydrogenated-laden sugar cookies and drink hot chocolate and sit on Santa's lap. A few years ago we all sat on his lap and that is the picture they use to advertise the event. There is one of Sawyer at 9 months, agog at Santa almost on the verge of bursting into tears. In the summer time we hear the train whistles everyday. "Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance, everybody thinks it is true".........(name that song?) So we feel connected to the trains I guess. Anyway, I digress.......As soon as Caleb got with ear shot of Santa, he started rattling off all the gifts he wanted (like Ralphy in the Christmas Story). Sawyer was more amused by 'the Grinch' roasting chestnuts on a BBQ outside the museum.
