All Aboard The Choo-Choo Train
Are you singing it now? Do you hate Genevieve as much as I do? If you have no idea what I’m talking about, count your blessings.
The kids and I made a quick trip to Pennsylvania to visit my BFF Erin and celebrate her baby’s 3rd birthday. I guess I should stop thinking of him as a baby now but OMG when will all these kids stop with the growing up!? I can’t take it! We went down a day early to make robots out of boxes and peel crayons and other various party prep (super cute robot party pics to come) but we managed to squeeze in a whole day of trains, big and small. I think the next party I plan might have to be train-themed.
We went to a train museum in the morning that was fun for the grown ups but not particularly kid-friendly. Did you know there are hundreds of train cabooses and boxcars just sitting around that you can buy for like $9,000? Or that there are still private rail cars with kitchens and bunks that are basically RVs on rails and that Amtrak will hook them up to their trains? I am now obsessed with the idea of owning a train car of ANY KIND. Maybe I read too many Boxcar Children books as a kid (False: there’s no such thing as too many Boxcar Children books).
After lunch we went to Kempton for a special Children’s Day at the WK&S Railroad. For $14 total Evan, Caroline and I rode a little motorcar on the tracks, rode on the big train in an antique car, saw a super cool model railroad, played with the Recycled Railroad, jumped in the bounce house and had ice cream. I believe the appropriate expression is: WINNING.

It makes me want to get my trains out of the basement…until I remember what a total pain in the ass they are to set up and run.

These little cars went REALLY fast. Ours had a rood and a windshield so it was a little less terrifying. The kids loved it.

Erin is sitting next to her in this picture, holding her ankles to make sure she doesn’t fall out. Because she was REALLY determined to fall out.

The tracks aren’t connected to anywhere anymore, so the engine turns around at the end of the line and we go back to the station.

And here is the part of the post where I started playing with filters to break up the 10 zillion photos.

Please note: I tried tinting my eyebrows AGAIN. It was a mistake AGAIN. This picture looks even more ridiculous in color.

Although this was the smiliest picture I got, he liked ALL the stuff we did, not just the ice cream.
Tags: Caroline, choo choo, evan, friends, fun, Hawk Moutain Line, Kempton, Pennsylvania, pony, summer, trains, travel, vacation, WK&S
First of all, Mommy *hates* that song. Genevieve seems a bit ghetto for Disney… Anyway. Trains? A pony ride? AND ice cream?? Pretty sure my head would explode from the awesomeness – BEST. DAY. EVER.
Looks like fun. I’m a sucker for bounce houses. Ps: awesome train stuff in strasburg. Pa.
Pas: tinted eyebrows what?!
I have reeeally pale eyebrows, especially in the summer so I ordered this stuff off Amazon. It works -too well. It fades pretty fast so I’m hoping they look just SLIGHTLY darker than normal for BlogHer, but for the last few days I’ve looked like Groucho Marx.
What a great day!
For the record, I never liked the Boxcar Children. All because of one passage in a book I read years ago where the oldest girl criticized someone named Willy by saying, Why, you ought to be William!” Who is she to declare what someone else’s name should be?!
Ha! And I liked them almost entirely because Jessie made a pie using a wine bottle as a rolling pin. I STILL do that sometimes.
Hmm, maybe if I had read that book first, I might have been able to look past the Willy issue and enjoy the series…
1. That song is now stuck in my head, thank you. I hated that lady at first (My husband just refers to her as something I really shouldn’t repeat, but it’s not nice at all) but now I can’t help singing and dancing around to that crap. Being a parent has ruined me.
2. A day like this would blow my little guy’s mind. I wish we had something like this where we live.
3. Did Evan chew the spout off his sippy cup?! My kid has chewed through several binkies, ruined some cups, and um chew 2 fingers off his baby doll. Kids are cray.
4. (unecessary point) Your kids are just so adorable
Both kids totally love Choo Choo Soul and I haaaate it. Caroline would dance to it all day if I’d let her.
Reid Charles!
That is all.
lol!
It was a wonderful day! My only regret was passing up the ten free falling-apart train magazines per child. ….Oh, wait. Not so much. :)
I have also wanted to buy a train car. I thought it would be super cool to buy a big piece of land and set up a train car B&B.
I swear every time you post I have a “me too” moment. When I was a kid I loved the Boxcar Children so much I wanted to run away so I could eat blackberries and put a bottle of mild in a stream (to keep it cold!) just like they did in the book I read.
Most people I know are like “Boxcar wha?” when I ask them if they ever read it.
That “trash train” is so cool! Looks like a lot of fun!