All Aboard!!!

Last Thursday, we surprised Jacob with a ride on the Polar Express! Anyone who knows our boy knows he loves trains, and anyone who really knows our boy also knows we've been watching The Polar Express (almost daily) since June.

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After much debate and a little guilt, we made the decision to just take Jacob this year. While Lydia probably would have loved it too, she's such a wild-card these days. Her terrible-two tantrums can ruin a fun time pretty quickly. We decided a long car ride + no nap + waiting in the cold would = a recipe for disaster. We also took into account how scared she was of the Dollywood train this summer. We didn't want to spend the money on tickets just for her to flip out about getting on the train and one of us have to stay back with her. And as Scott pointed out, she's so young that she didn't even realize what she missed. So Lydia, if you're reading this years from now, just know we you had a fabulous time with Meme and I'm sure we made it up to you somehow! :)

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After we put Lydia down for her nap, we gave Jacob a golden ticket just like the one from the movie and told him we were leaving in a few minutes to take a ride on the Polar Express. While he seemed pleased, he was a bit confused. He started to get more excited when I explained we were going to put on our jammies to ride on a real train. And things went up another notch when I told him we were going to drink hot chocolate on the train!

We had matching family jammies from Christmas last year, so I decided they would be perfect for our trip on the Polar Express. Scott was slightly skeptical about wearing jammies, especially since we were going early and planning to walk around and eat an early dinner in Bryson City beforehand. But I convinced him it we'd fit right in. I will say that we were probably in the 5% of adults wearing jammies, but Jacob loved matching Daddy, so it was all worth it! (Scott may feel differently - haha!!!)

I don't think Jacob really understood what we were going to do until we picked up our reserved tickets at the depot and took a peak at the train. At that point, his excitement level was off the charts! I think this is my favorite picture from the night - he seriously looks like he's going to burst with excitement! (We kind of thought he might!)

 

Jacob wanted to board the train immediately, and it took some convincing to pull him away from the tracks. He was afraid the train was going to leave without him, but we promised him we'd be back in plenty of time to board. Bryson City's downtown was beautifully decorated and we enjoyed walking up and down the street checking out the décor and storefronts. We stopped at a little delicatessen for an early dinner.

The deli had antique toy cars, which was right up this little guy's alley! After drooling over the display cases for a few minutes he asked, "Mommy, did you bring any cash?!" 

After what I'm sure felt like an eternity to Jacob, we boarded the Polar Express and set off on our journey to the North Pole!

He loved hearing the movie soundtrack, having his ticket punched by the Conductor, and of course watching the waiters perform the Hot Chocolate song and dance! We brought our copy of the book and Jacob followed along while the story was read over the loud speaker. He was so excited to see all the lights when we reached the North Pole!

 A special visitor joined us after we reached the North Pole....SANTA! He gave each child a jingle bell and listened to their Christmas wishes as he made his way through the cars.

Jacob was totally and completely delighted! I know it sounds so silly, but watching him that night brought tears to my eyes a couple of times. He was so happy! We knew he would love it, but we didn't realize how much. It really was a dream come true for him, which made it a dream come true for us!

 

When we returned to the Depot, we had fun checking out the Christmas lights, train museum, and made a quick stop in a chocolate shop to get a treat for Lydia. He didn't want the night to end!

It truly was a magical night and one that we'll always remember!