Well, it's officially almost Christmas and I am finally taking the time to jot down some thoughts and memories from our month.
December!
This month has more fun things on the calendar than any other, and this year has been especially joyful. I'm so behind that I'm not even sure where to start. So I am just throwing things together in a way that makes some sense...maybe.
Here we go!
We kicked off our holiday season with a neat new tradition. Last year we went on a "Polar Express" train ride, but other than a Santa that stopped by to say hi...it didn't actually resemble the real Polar Express. This year we heard about a new Polar Express event at the Colorado Railroad Museum and decided to check it out. We got tickets just in the nick of time... the entire event completely sold out before the first show!
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| A clue from Sleepy. |
Sadly, I only have iPhone pictures this year. Julian and I crossed wires...he put my camera battery on the charger, and I grabbed the camera to bring along, not knowing it was missing a battery. I was sad to miss out on pictures, but hopefully we will be able to go again, with the camera and battery next time!
We weren't sure what to expect, but from start to finish we were impressed. The Railroad Museum had full license from the movie, so they used the actual music, characters, and scenes from the book/movie. We showed up in pajamas (the boys) and loaded onto a diner car for cookies and hot chocolate...the waiters and conductor danced and sang the "hot chocolate" song, then they read the book out loud for everyone to hear.
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| Authentic golden ticket! |
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| The waiting area is a little boy's dream. |
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| We each got to bring home one these commemorative mugs! |
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| Lucy was a champ, alert and observant for part of it and slept through the rest. |
Next, it was time for the Polar Express to arrive.
We all gathered outside, with snow softly falling. You could hear the train approaching and the kids were beside themselves with excitement. I have to admit, I had a moment of clarity when that huge steam train puffed by with the Polar Express theme playing in the background. I was in awe...of a train! I now better understand why the boys love trains, carry them around all of the time, and play at the train table for hours at a time.
The conductor yelled that familiar "All aboard" and onto the big steam train we went. It was too dark for pictures on the train, unfortunately, but we enjoyed our ride as scenes from the movie took place outside of our windows. Familiar characters visited our train car, each of them made sure to learn and remember the boys' names. They punched letters into our tickets, just like in the movie. We finally made it to the "north pole", watched Santa give the first gift of Christmas, and then had a visit from the jolly old man on our way back.
The boys, and even little Lucy received a special bell from Santa...we definitely plan to hold onto these fun mementos of a special family night.
The boys talk about this experience every day, especially Eli. He is quite the home body, and other than preschool or the zoo, he prefers to stay home. Now his list has grown from two to three favorite places, he constantly asks to go back to the Polar Express.
We've already marked our calendars for the August date that tickets go on sale for 2015, we hope to ride the polar express again, it was truly magical!
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There was a lot of excitement in this house during the first week of December surrounding the ULA launch of Orion. ULA was part of an event at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where the original launch was going to be shown on the huge IMAX screen. The boys had to get up before 4am to make it in time for the opening of the launch window. I wasn't sure if they'd want to go once they saw (felt?) how early it was, but they popped right, eager to go.
Lucy and I stayed home, watching online.
The next couple of hours were a roller coaster of ups and downs between the beginning of terminal countdowns (4 minutes to go) and cancellations due to weather and eventually a valve malfunction.
Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed and rescheduled for the next morning.
We were all a little disappointed, but we got to spend another day obsessing and watching NASA footage and briefings.
Friday morning, first try, the rocket launched...an amazing sight to see when you think about all of the brilliant people who have spent countless hours working to get Orion off the Earth and into orbit. We are so proud of Julian and the company he works for, he really is at his dream job, and we love to support him.
It's interesting watching the boys grow up as sons of an aerospace engineer. Blocks are almost always made into rockets, rockets with multiple stages and boosters (terms that Max and Eli use appropriately). Yesterday morning Eli came downstairs to proudly show us that he'd built a two stage rocket with an astronaut capsule on top...it's incredible what they can absorb at such a young age.
Sometimes I wonder if they will leave this Earth someday on rocket...they both want to be astronauts, of course!
GO ULA! GO Orion!
We all gathered outside, with snow softly falling. You could hear the train approaching and the kids were beside themselves with excitement. I have to admit, I had a moment of clarity when that huge steam train puffed by with the Polar Express theme playing in the background. I was in awe...of a train! I now better understand why the boys love trains, carry them around all of the time, and play at the train table for hours at a time.
 |
| Time to greet the Polar Express! |
The conductor yelled that familiar "All aboard" and onto the big steam train we went. It was too dark for pictures on the train, unfortunately, but we enjoyed our ride as scenes from the movie took place outside of our windows. Familiar characters visited our train car, each of them made sure to learn and remember the boys' names. They punched letters into our tickets, just like in the movie. We finally made it to the "north pole", watched Santa give the first gift of Christmas, and then had a visit from the jolly old man on our way back.
The boys, and even little Lucy received a special bell from Santa...we definitely plan to hold onto these fun mementos of a special family night.
The boys talk about this experience every day, especially Eli. He is quite the home body, and other than preschool or the zoo, he prefers to stay home. Now his list has grown from two to three favorite places, he constantly asks to go back to the Polar Express.
We've already marked our calendars for the August date that tickets go on sale for 2015, we hope to ride the polar express again, it was truly magical!
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| Sleepy is at it again! |
Lucy and I stayed home, watching online.
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| The boys practicing shuttle docking at the space station. |
Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed and rescheduled for the next morning.
Friday morning, first try, the rocket launched...an amazing sight to see when you think about all of the brilliant people who have spent countless hours working to get Orion off the Earth and into orbit. We are so proud of Julian and the company he works for, he really is at his dream job, and we love to support him.
It's interesting watching the boys grow up as sons of an aerospace engineer. Blocks are almost always made into rockets, rockets with multiple stages and boosters (terms that Max and Eli use appropriately). Yesterday morning Eli came downstairs to proudly show us that he'd built a two stage rocket with an astronaut capsule on top...it's incredible what they can absorb at such a young age.
Sometimes I wonder if they will leave this Earth someday on rocket...they both want to be astronauts, of course!
GO ULA! GO Orion!
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