Saturday we ventured to Lubbock to spend the day with our friends,
The Dallas Family. That morning Zach and Calyn had their 6
th birthday celebration at Chuck E. Cheese. The girls loved it and played and played. Mali loved seeing her friends and Eleri loved seeing Chuck E Cheese. After the party we stuck around because we had tickets to ride The Polar Express. Mali went to the Science Spectrum and made Christmas Crafts with the other big kids while the babies rested at home. Nana bought the cutest matching polar bear pajamas for the girls and they were so excited to wear them. On the way to the “station”, I stopped and got us bean and cheese burritos from Taco Villa to eat for dinner before our ride. BIG mom mistake…both girls’ beautiful while shirts were covered in some sort of taco sauce (we usually only get burritos from Rosa’s which don’t have sauce so I was a little inexperienced). I was so frustrated with myself, but luckily had an extra set of clothes anyway that happened to match fairly well. We waited in line with the entire Dallas family and
Tracen Williams who gladly took Eric’s spot, until it was time to board the train. The girls were excited and couldn’t sit still for all the excitement. Eleri, Mali and Calyn started out sitting with me but Calyn soon moved. Mali spent the rest of the time crying and pouting that Calyn wouldn’t sit with her. However, Eleri really enjoyed the experience. She was dancing and clapping and singing and just couldn’t stay in her seat. She loved looking out at the Christmas lights as we rode along. We were fortunate to know our conductor,
THE Jason Trook. He made the ride really fun. He punched our tickets with a “P” and an “E” for Polar Express and made sure that the holes landed all over Zach and Calyn as they were punched out! The conductor and the servers danced through the aisles to the theme from the movie The Polar Express. We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies. Then the book was read aloud over the loud speaker. We finally arrived at The North Pole. Mali was less than thrilled and informed me it wasn’t the real North Pole because it was a paper house. It wasn’t quite paper, maybe wood and signs, but she knew it wasn’t THE North Pole at any rate. Then Santa Clause came aboard. The girls were excited to see him. Santa gave each girl a bell and they have thoroughly enjoyed ringing it since. In the quiet of the moments as we approached the “station” to return to our cars, Mali said “mom, I believe”. I asked her what exactly she believed and she said “I believe in Jesus and that He is in my heart.” My heart just melted!!! I couldn’t be happier with her response. I don’t really push her belief in Santa and was glad that it is her belief in Jesus that she thinks of when we read, watch or experience the Polar Express and they talk about “believing.”
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| Waiting for the train to arrive |
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| Ready to board |
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| The train has arrived |
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| SOOO exciting |
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| NOT in the best mood |
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| Hot Chocolate |
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| A little warmed up with some warm hot chocolate |
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| Eleri's bell |
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| Yummy cookie |
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| Mali's bell |
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| Having our tickets punched |
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| Eleri, Santa Clause, Zach Dallas, and Mali |
Saturday we ventured to Lubbock to spend the day with our friends, The Dallas Family. That morning Zach and Calyn had their 6th birthday celebration at Chuck E. Cheese. The girls loved it and played and played. Mali loved seeing her friends and Eleri loved seeing Chuck E Cheese. After the party we stuck around because we had tickets to ride The Polar Express. Mali went to the Science Spectrum and made Christmas Crafts with the other big kids while the babies rested at home. Nana bought the cutest matching polar bear pajamas for the girls and they were so excited to wear them. On the way to the “station”, I stopped and got us bean and cheese burritos from Taco Villa to eat for dinner before our ride. BIG mom mistake…both girls’ beautiful while shirts were covered in some sort of taco sauce (we usually only get burritos from Rosa’s which don’t have sauce so I was a little inexperienced). I was so frustrated with myself, but luckily had an extra set of clothes anyway that happened to match fairly well. We waited in line with the entire Dallas family and Tracen Williams who gladly took Eric’s spot, until it was time to board the train. The girls were excited and couldn’t sit still for all the excitement. Eleri, Mali and Calyn started out sitting with me but Calyn soon moved. Mali spent the rest of the time crying and pouting that Calyn wouldn’t sit with her. However, Eleri really enjoyed the experience. She was dancing and clapping and singing and just couldn’t stay in her seat. She loved looking out at the Christmas lights as we rode along. We were fortunate to know our conductor, THE Jason Trook. He made the ride really fun. He punched our tickets with a “P” and an “E” for Polar Express and made sure that the holes landed all over Zach and Calyn as they were punched out! The conductor and the servers danced through the aisles to the theme from the movie The Polar Express. We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies. Then the book was read aloud over the loud speaker. We finally arrived at The North Pole. Mali was less than thrilled and informed me it wasn’t the real North Pole because it was a paper house. It wasn’t quite paper, maybe wood and signs, but she knew it wasn’t THE North Pole at any rate. Then Santa Clause came aboard. The girls were excited to see him. Santa gave each girl a bell and they have thoroughly enjoyed ringing it since. In the quiet of the moments as we approached the “station” to return to our cars, Mali said “mom, I believe”. I asked her what exactly she believed and she said “I believe in Jesus and that He is in my heart.” My heart just melted!!! I couldn’t be happier with her response. I don’t really push her belief in Santa and was glad that it is her belief in Jesus that she thinks of when we read, watch or experience the Polar Express and they talk about “believing.”
What bells? Your kids got bells?
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