Polar express!

Since we both love surprises, Kirstin and I worked out a big one for our families for this holiday, the Polar Express train ride! It started back in fall--securing the tickets on the sale day, for the 8 of us, and we did! We got a date close to Christmas that we wanted and that worked with all our schedules. 

When the big day finally came, Eric and I wrapped the new PJs and tickets, took Amara off the bus, headed to Carissa's to get Cora, and let them open the present. They had no idea what it was, lol--but after Eric explained it, they were all about it! They changed in the car and we set off for the Akron train station and our big event. Surprise number 2, Saphira's family, met us there, and we could tell it was going to be a great night.

Right away, the characters were awesome. From the men helping the girls on the train, to the elf leaders on the train, and all the goofy characters in between, they were awesome. The girls were enamored!  Kirsten and I visited the gift car and the men and kids visited the snack car, to load up on popcorn. We got the girls snow globes for a keepsake too.

Soon after that, the conductor came along to punch the girls golden tickets, something Amara had been really hopeful about and we were glad happened. Jagger made sure to get his ticket punched too--Cora is totally sweet on him. They sat together all night.

When the train began to move, we were headed to the North Pole--about a 20 minute ride, but the elves read the Polar Express story on the way, so that was cool.  Before we knew it, we were at the North Pole and elves, lights, and more characters filled their side of the train--and at the end, Santa passed by on another engine with lots of lights and Mrs. Claus. We parked for a bit to watch, but we didn't know that while we were, Santa was boarding our car!

He came along and spent time with all the kids, asking them what they wanted for Christmas, if they'd been good, and generally spreading cheer and making wishes come true. At the end of his visit though, he gave each of the kids a bell, with "Believe" etched on it, (from the bells on the reigns of his sleigh) and asked the kids if they could hear the bell ringing--Cora was amazed.

After Santa left our car, we sang more songs, and enjoyed cookies and hot cocoa on the ride back to the station. It was a long trip, day, ride, etc. but the time together and with our amazing friends was priceless. We carried some tired girls into the car that night, but they were too excited to even sleep on the way home, amazing!!