Winter Fun

Another fun December weekend filled with pre-Christmas activities and wintry weather... On Friday afternoon, we took a ride on the Polar Express, right out of Portland direct to the North Pole. The fact that it only took 20 minutes to get to Santa's house confirmed what I have been saying every since the cold snap hit last week - we must have moved to the Arctic Circle. The Narrow Gauge Railroad puts on a great little ride for the kids, complete with a hot cocoa and cookie stop, actors portraying characters from the story, lights along the scenic route, and an appearance from Santa himself. Here we are ready to board the train:

Right before we got on-board, Ben wondered whether we should leave the boys' coats in the car; luckily, I nipped this idea in the bud. It turns out the Polar Express likes to keep things authentic - it sure felt like we were near the North Pole on this FREEZING train.

We were very happy when they brought us some warm cocoa (and the cookies were pretty tasty too!).

In preparation for this big event, Ethan and I had been watching the Polar Express movie in installments (this kid's attention span is about 20 minutes, so I think it took 6 sittings to get through the movie). So he definitely knew the story and was very excited to get his own golden ticket. Just like in the story, he let his ticket slip out of his hands as soon as we boarded the train, but luckily the friendly conductor got him another one, and then punched his name in it! He would not let go of his ticket for the rest of the ride or the whole drive home. Both of the boys also got bells, the "first gifts of Christmas", left by Santa himself. Here is Ethan, clutching his treasures and looking very concerned that he will somehow lose them:

To add to the wintry fun this weekend, we got a light dusting of snow today. For once, we were not in the center of the snowstorm, and got substantially less snow than the rest of the East Coast. But a fresh dusting added to the several inches already on the ground and made for some great sledding conditions this afternoon. Ethan and I took to the slopes right after his nap, and were having so much fun that we ignored the little warning signs that someone was starting to get cold. When we finally came inside, we had a very frozen and distraught munchkin on our hands, and a dose of piping hot cocoa was in order.

Nothing says dainty like an almost three-year old in a ball-covered turtleneck sipping hot cocoa out of a tea cup...