The polar express. . .NOT!

We took a touristy train ride at a "vintage" railroad nearby. It turns out that the engine was actually a diesel, we were trapped in a tent with Christmas entertainment of questionable quality for 45 minutes before boarding, and then the "hostess" on our car berated us for not singing enough! But the kids seemed to enjoy the experience anyway.
It was one of the cold days (interspersed with the 70 degree days we have had lately). Since Luke has determined that he will not wear his coat until it snows, Luke's coat made a great lap blanket for C.
We checked out all the cars and equipment. In November, when I gave Luke my brother's old Brio trains, Luke made a sudden switch from construction obsession to train obsession. He set out to educate himself about ALL the details. Thanks to the local library, I know more about trains than I ever even wondered about.

There were golden tickets just like in the movie:
We went out in very slow motion (maybe 10 mph) through not-so-attractive scenery for 15 minutes. Then we reversed back to the station. All in all, it was probably a good experience to try--once!