The Polar Express

Here's my first attempt at catching up the blog on what we did over the Christmas holiday.


On the first day of our break from school we loaded up the car and drove to Williams, AZ. Home of the Grand Canyon Railway. This is a fun thing to do any time of the year but especially at Christmas when they turn the train into The Polar Express.

The kids were excited to get to see snow and their cousins who were also riding the train. LJ's sisters, Marcie & Charlene with their families came and friends, Kevin & Denise with their kids were there too. The whole excitement about the Polar Express is getting to see Santa but for Luke, it was all about getting to ride a REAL TRAIN! He was so excited from the minute we pulled into town. He could not wait to get on that train!

He can't even stand still for a picture!


First we ate dinner in the restaurant. 6 Adults & 11 Kids. Good thing it was buffet style so everyone found something they liked.

Next we had to wait a little while before boarding the train. Lyla is all bundled up ready to go. Isn't she cute?


Who looks more tired here, Lyla or Daddy?


Luke cannot wait another minute. He has got to get on that train!


Finally we get to board! We shed all the jackets and get cozy in our pj's & blankets, ready to ride the Polar Express. Lyla stayed cozy right in Daddy's arms.

Marcie, Hayden & Kamryn.

Makenzie & Emily.

Ally & Chealynne.

The train is ready to go. It was a pretty good ride, listening to the Polar Express story on the way there & then singing Christmas songs on the way back. They even gave us hot chocolate and cookies. It's a little over an hour total I think. Just enough time for the kids to have fun without getting restless.

After the ride we went back to the hotel. They had an indoor swimming pool so we had to take advantage of that. This next picture is for Marcie..... We didn't know that we would have to walk outside in the freezing cold to get to the indoor pool so everyone left the room in bathing suits. Marcie's group didn't even have shoes on. So I walked my kids over to the pool, took their shoes & went back for them to use. Daniel had to stay barefoot & walk fast. We were laughing so hard. I tried to get a picture but didn't have my camera turned on fast enough. There was no way they were stopping to pose. This was the best I could get.

Good times!

The next day we went back to the train after breakfast so Luke could get one more look and say "Goodbye". He found this cute little snowman someone had started and then finished it off.

This is Luke saying, "CHEESE!"

It was a great trip and a wonderful way to start off our Christmas holiday. To be continued.....