ALL ABOARD! To the North Pole!



 Our family loves what we have all affectionately dubbed, "The Holidays".  Several holidays packed into 5-6 weeks, beginning with Thanksgiving and ending with New Year's Day.  Most of us get a lot of time off work at that time and celebrate Christmas several days between each holiday as well.

 

As I previously mentioned in another blog entry, our family has a tradition of celebrating Christmas every day of December leading up to Christmas Eve.  This year, we got started a little early.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with my brother, Scott's family.  Because we had them with us, we decided not to wait until December 1 to start our daily Christmas Activity Advent tradition.  We started the day after Turkey Day with a ride on the North Pole Express!

 

If you've never ridden the North Pole Express and you have children, YOU'VE GOT TO DO IT!  What a fun time for the kids and an equally fun time for us parents to watch the kids have so much fun.  The North Pole Express is a Christmas themed transformation of the Heber Creeper, a steam locomotive that begins in Heber and ends in Provo Canyon.  It is loosely inspired by the Chris Van Allsburg book, Polar Express.  It is a traditional Christmas book about believing in Santa and the Spirit of Christmas.  If you aren't a book person, there is a movie, but it is creepy.  Well, in my opinion, the animation is creepy....just read the book. 

 

We had a blast.  They say that pictures speak a thousand words, which may be true, but they never capture the warmth of your soul as you watch your kids enjoy themselves.  Grandma came too!  Here are the pics with brief narration.  By the way, I apologize for all the pictures.  There were 3 cameras there that day taking pictures and many are the same shots from different angles.  I realize you all love our kids, but probably not as much as we do and this blog is, afterall, a documentation of my adventures for my memoirs and then to share with everybody else.  Indulge me as I share far too many pictures of my family.

 

Dax sitting at the Depot ticket booth, excited about The North Pole Express

 



Waiting in the wind and cold to board the Heber Creeper aka North Pole Express

After boarding our train car, we met a host and a couple of Santa's helpers.  They brought us cookies and hot cocoa.



The hot cocoa was BLASTING HOT, but luckily Scott never goes anywhere without a Double Big Gulp so he had some ice to share with everybody. 

 

We each got a ticket for the North Pole Express.  Here is Lucas showing off his ticket.

These two enjoyed sitting next to eachother the whole trip. 

Dax and Grandma waiting for the conductor to punch their tickets.

Scott, Sarah and Cynthia

 

 

Shortly after the train started rolling, the conductor punched each of our tickets.

 

The kids had HUGE smiles all day long.  The host, Santa, Santa's helpers and Ms. Claus did a great job of being interactive with the kids and keeping them engaged for the length of the trip. 

There was beautiful scenery and wildlife for the kids to enjoy in the few minutes of downtime.

Between me, Sarah and Cynthia, we took a ton of pictures.  You have probably already realized this from this blog post.

Grandma and her Grandkids (except two) ringing their Christmas bells.

Grace, Jane and Lucas

These two are all boys and great friends.

 





Ms. Claus, Santa's daughter, came in and sang us a Christmas song and then led us in some Christmas Caroling.

Jane was enamored with Ms. Claus.

Lucas had a big time crush and was very shy around her.



Dax isn't shy.  He wanted to show Lucas how it's done!  I think Dax even got her digits!

The Santa's Helpers were the best!  They loved our kids.  So much so, that I felt bad they showed our kids so much attention and nearly ignored the rest of the kids on the train. 

Here Leah and Lucas are dancing to Christmas music with Santa's helper, Frosty.

Our host, I can't remember his  name, seemed to cause Leah to gush in shyness.  Grandma enjoyed teasing her that she had a crush on him.  I don't do well with my daughter having a crush on a boy so I threw him off the train.

Dax dancing with Muffin.  He didn't seem as enthused by Santa's helpers as he did by Santa's daughter.

Still unenthused.

I think dancing with Santa's helpers was Leah's favorite part.

These two make me smile.  Well, they all do, but I can't tell you how stoked I am that Dax has a cousin the same age and gender as him.  I'm glad they get along so well.

This dude is a character. 

Of course, the fact that they like eachother so much does not stop them from sitting across from eachother and having a kick fight.  Afterall, boys will be boys.

Jingling bells along with Christmas songs.

 

 

All of a sudden, the train conductor announced we had to slow down because a reindeer was on the tracks.

As we slowed down, we passed Santa's Village in the middle of the Wasatch mountains of Utah.  I always knew Utah was business friendly, but for Saint Nick himself to move his workshop to Utah really says something!

Before we started heading back to the depot, Santa boarded the train to meet all the little boys and girls that "believed".
Lucas anxiously waited for Santa to enter the door of the train car.

Even Old Saint Nick is a USC fan.  So much so, that he displays his loyalty on the front of Santa's Village!

Santa greeted each of the kids and we all got a brass Christmas jingle bell on a red ribbon that said, "believe".

Dax loved Santa.  Of course, after planting a wet one on his daughter's cheek, he was Santa would become his Father-in-law.

Leah and Santa.

Dax's constant inquisition and curiosity about Santa cracked me up.

Sarah and Leah showing off their jingle bells.

 

For the remaining time back to the depot, we sang 12 days of Christmas and the kids got to participate by holding up signs for their day. 

When we returned to the depot, we took a few very quick photos (it was freezing) and headed back to Park City.

 

 

It was a great day!  If you haven't partaken, I would highly suggest it.  The tickets were pricy, but well worth the joy on the kiddos' faces.  It was the perfect kick off to our Christmas Advent Tradition.