Trains!

My son’s love affair with trains has officially begun! My husband’s work spoiled us with an amazing work party held at the California State Railroad Museum. They rented out the entire museum for the evening, 5:30-10. Dinner was served buffet style, delicious BBQ! They offered free steam-powered train rides about every half hour or so, here was a view of the Capitol building on our ride.They had a professional photographer that took family pictures in front of one of the engines inside the museum, AND…each child received a $20 gift card to the gift shop. Can you say spoiled?! (Cooper got a talking Percy and a Thomas board book) What a successful work party! And it was fun to get to see everyone’s families, not just spouses.

If you’ve never been to the railroad museum, you definitely need to check it out. They have full size engines and trains you can both observe and walk through, and for the history buffs, I enjoy the dining car where they have all the different china patterns used on many different trains. I used to breeze by the model train section, not this visit!! Cooper was like a kid in a candy store, running up to each display with his face pressed up against the window: And last, but certainly not least…they have a Thomas the train section where kids have free play. Thankfully, we didn’t find this until close to the end of the evening, or we would’ve been stuck up there all night!

We learned about the Polar Express ride they offer around Christmas time, which thanks to my neighbor who had early registration for it, we got tickets! They are sold out, so if it sounds interesting, check it out for next year, however, they do still have a ride called Santa’s Express Train. What little boy doesn’t just love trains? My journey continues as I learn the names of all the engines and cars in the Thomas collection. =)