Saturday:Trains

What a great day!!!  My worries that Megan would think Saturday was just for her brother were unfounded as it was her favorite part of the Surprise Adventure weekend as well!

We woke up Saturday morning and left the house early.  Our first stop was HyVee for donuts. After finishing those,we got in the van to start the 2 1/2 hour drive to Boone,IA. Once again,the kids had no idea what we were driving to or what we’d be doing there. Lots of movies were watched on the way there,but when we drove into town,over lots of railroad tracks and into the parking lot where there were tons and tons and tons of trains,the kids quickly lost interest in the movie. Nick (as expected) said nothing and took it all in. Megan in a very breathless voice said,“oh my gosh!!!”. Adam and I were just giddy with excitement. This was going to be fun!

We got out of the van and immediately saw Kelly who had also just pulled in. We were visiting with her in the empty parking lot when I looked up and realized that Nick was disappearing into the depot. That kid was serious about getting going on this train stuff! While I went in to see about getting our tickets and then went back out to get the camera,Adam and Kelly told the kids that we were going to ride on the train. Megan was excited and Nick didn’t quite get it.

We quickly learned that getting to the train station early really pays off. So does having two adorable children. With cute kids who were really excited about the trains and parents and an aunt who were just as excited,the employees there were eager to show us around. Trains were unlocked,private tours were given,and an hour after we had been there,we had been inside every train we wanted. It was fantastic!!

A short time later,Kelly went to get lunch for everyone and we went to look at some more trains. A very short time after that Adam’s phone rang and her car was broken again. He went to try to jump start her car and the kids and I wandered around more. We visited the fully functioning trolley,wandered around the gift shop (where they had a Thomas train table that they played with for quite a while),and then watched the steam engine that would be pulling our train come and couple up. What fun!

Adam and Kelly came back a short time later (with both vehicles –he was able to get hers running again) and we enjoyed our lunch while watching people mill around. Once we were all fed and cleaned up again,we got ready for our train ride. Once we were aboard,we had a whole new adventure. Riding on the train was a ton of fun,we saw some beautiful scenery,and since the person narrating the tour was the one that gave us tours of most of the train cars,Megan even got a picture of the trestle bridge that we went over that he was showing everyone.

While we thought that once the train ride was over,the adventure weekend was over,we were far from wrong. Kelly’s car started right up when we left the train station but she didn’t make it far. Half an hour spent at Casey’s trying to jump start it was finally successful but she didn’t make it more than a mile after that when it stopped in a busy intersection. Two police cars and a tow truck later and we were on the road to Des Moines to drop off Kelly (who is now car-less) and then we headed back home. The day and the weekend were a complete success as far as the kids were concerned and all four of us went to bed with smiles on our faces that night.