The Santa Express!

Choo-Choo!

Last weekend my little family was able to go on the Santa Express at the nearby Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad and Museum. It is similar to The Polar Express, but different due to copyright reasons.



It was a lot of fun! Thankfully I was smart enough to buy tickets a few weeks ago as they were all sold out when we got there. It was really cute to see the kids in their jammies(we forgot to put our kids in jammies) and all the grandparents and aunts and uncles that went, too.

From the bridge, very high up!

The kidlets loved the train ride!

Each car had a volunteer to help in leading songs, telling jokes and reading stories. We brought our own copy of The Polar Express with us to read. Reading that story at Christmas is a favorite memory of mine growing up. I think we had a cassette recording!

Mommy and Nina reading.

There was heat in the car but they are very old so it was still cold. I'm glad we came bundled up! Later on we got hot chocolate and a cookie; that helped warm us up a bit.

We took a ride to the North Pole and Santa Claus brought a silver bell for all of the kids. Thankfully, they make a very pleasant jingle that is *almost* music to my ears.

The North Pole and Santa Claus!

Our face as we catch our first glimpse of the man in red!

There he is!

The Boob Man got a bell!

And the Opinionated Little Lady also got a bell!

This was our first year going on the Santa Express and I hope we are able to next year, as well! What a fun way to kick off the month of December and start getting even more into the Spirit of Christmas. I also love that the money from our tickets goes to preserving this Iowa treasure.

What local historical places do you have available to visit in the holidays?