Is that not just the cutest thing?? This is what my creative little sister Christi (with some help from my other very talented sister Jennie) sent out to ask her bridesmaids to be a part of her big day. I don't even want to know how much time they took to put together! She made each of the dolls look like the girl she was sending it to. Mine was the slight exception to this because Christi ran out of blonde haired girls. Since she happened to have a brown haired girl leftover, and since we're sisters and she was tired of putting dolls together (can you blame her??), she gave me a brownie. The girl is even wearing a replica of what the bridesmaids dresses will look like. So fun! I love getting mail, and mail like this made me smile!!
Anyway, mail wasn't really what I was sitting down to write about, it was just a fun thing I had to share!
This week my friend Sarah called to see if we wanted to join her and her kids (plus a few) on a train ride. The destination? Ice cream in Hanford, a little farming town about a half an hour train ride south of us. It has a well known mom and pop ice cream shop that is within walking distance of the train station once you arrive. How could I say no??
I decided not to tell Drew where we were going until the day of since he still has a hard time understanding the concept of time. I was also hoping that if I didn't tell him that I might be able to have him squeeze in an early nap before we left. Unfortunately while I was feeding him lunch, I let it slip that we would be going on a surprise when he woke up. Well, that killed any idea of him actually taking a nap. I tucked him in and listened to him talk to himself about the surprise he would be going on for almost an hour. He eventually popped out his bedroom door and came running down the hallway yelling, "I'm awake Momma!! Is it time for my surprise??". I had to laugh.
Once he was up, he was up, so I gave in and told him what the plan was. I wish I had video taped his reaction. Drew loves all things train right now, so when he heard he would be getting to ride a real, live, actual train he was giddy. He literally ran around the room screaming about the train and ice cream and his friends Bradley and Hope.
We met up at the train station with Sarah and her kids, along with three other friends' kids (did I forget to tell you how brave Sarah is?? She's much more brave than I am and will gladly take five kids out for a day....I barely survive with just my two some days! The girl is Superwoman!). Anyway, we got our tickets and then headed out to the platform to wait for our train. The platforms were the worst part for me! They're completely open to the tracks, no fences, no guardrail, just open! There's a little yellow line painted about three feet from the edge of the platform that they ask you to stand behind. It definitely doesn't feel like much when those huge trains come rushing in. Just to be on the safe side, we had all the kids sit. A cargo train went by just before our train came in and most of the kids ended up covering their ears. I don't think I realized just how much noise trains make; this thing was loud and fast!
Yep, count 'em! That would be six kids, and Collin made seven. Don't worry, I think we're crazy too.
Drew was in awe of the train and loved the ride. This is the only picture I got of him actually looking at me. The rest of the time looked more like this:
Glued to that window! I forgot that the train station is close to so many of the industrial businesses in Fresno. Translate this to "boy heaven". There were plenty of tractors, trucks, fire engines, etc. to look at as we pulled out of Fresno. No wonder I couldn't get him to turn around for a picture!
Collin did great! He was happy to be hanging out with the big kids, and was such a trooper for the day!
We were separated from Sarah and the rest of the kids by just a few seats at the beginning of the ride. Hope kept leaning out of her seat and would yell "Dreeeeew?" until he popped out of his seat to say "hi".
Sarah's daughter Hope. Don't you just want to squeeze her? She has the best little personality!!
Hope's brother Bradley with Collin. He was great at making Collin laugh. Those Doman kids looooooove babies. Wonder where they got that?? Hmmmm.....
We finally moved up to be by Sarah when we realized that all the kids prefer to sit (and actually fit) in just a few seats. This is how they rode the rest of the 15 minutes or so that we had left.
When we arrived in Hanford, we loaded up our joggers and headed towards Superior Dairy. The ice cream shop is a quick little half mile trip that took us just a *wee* bit longer thanks to our little detour. Ok...so maybe we were a bit lost, but it was only for a little while and we made it eventually. That's all that really matters, right? The weather was unusually warm for this time of year, so the cold ice cream was a welcome treat!
That serving was a kid's serving. Where were those type of kid's servings when I was little??
All in all we had a really fun day! We came home talking about friends, trains, and ice cream and crashed into bed shortly after! We were all exhausted! Thanks Sarah for inviting us!!
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