Taylor Family: Polar Express

We have been wanting to take the kids on a trip on the Polar Express for a long time. It is a train up by the Grand Canyon that takes you all the way to the North Pole to see Santa! We have known several families that have gone, but wanted to wait until the kids were the right age. This was a perfect year to take them! The have been counting down the days for a couple weeks now and it lived up to their expectations!!

Our train didn't leave until 8pm on Sunday, but we headed up north about 10am. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive, so we made a stop at the outlet malls on the way. In Anthem we saw the tallest Christmas tree in the nation! This is actually a real tree!

Here is my proof that it is real!

Here are our matching divas.

Neena came on this trip too. We were excited to have her there for our fun Polar Express trip!

I know I am biased, but how cute are they?!

We had a quick lunch, shopped, played at the play area, then we were on our way!

When we got the hotel, we had a couple of hours to kill until it was time for our train, so what movie do you think the kids watched??? Polar Express of course!

Now, if you've ever read the book or seen the movie, you would see that on the Polar Express, the kids wear their pajamas because the movie/book takes place late on Christmas Eve. Of course the kids had to get new pajamas and slippers, right? Also, Neena bought each kid these really cute Sing-a-ma-jig things that are just so funny. (The Sing-a-ma-jig's did not go to Polar Express with us!)

Here is Makenna with her new jammies and cupcake slippers.

Delaney would not wear her slippers (remember she is obsessed with her backpack and boots, right?)

I love Camden's new pants and slippers! He got flannel pants with a Cardinals bird on it and football slippers!

Neena, the kids and the sing-a-ma-jigs.

I cannot pass up the opportunity to wear comfy pajamas instead of regular clothes, right?

Off to the Polar Express...

We had to wait for the train before ours to get back.

All Aboard!

So excited!!!!

Right after we started heading to the North Pole, they gave everyone cookies and hot chocolate.

Okay, so we went throught a time warp, got the North Pole and I took no pictures!!! We saw Santa there, with his reindeer and elves and a HUGE bag of presents. Then Santa got on our train! He gave each kid their very own bell.

After we went back through the time warp and arrived safely back in Williams, AZ, the kids got to sit and tell Santa what they would like for Christmas. It was quite a rushed visit with a LONG line, so they didn't get to say much.

They each thought they could only say one thing, so here is how it went:

Makenna-a CD player with puppies on it (she REALLY wanted a real puppy for Christmas but we have explained to her that Santa will not bring something Mommy and Daddy don't want right now). She is so funny though. Her CD player doesn't work, so she wants one so she can practice her dances! What a serious little girl!

Camden-a chocolate tree (I blame Neena for this because she talked about it RIGHT BEFORE we got to Santa). Normally he has been asking for a Voltron toy because he loves to watch it with Daddy and "Daddy had a Voltron toy when he was little."

Delaney-a doggie and a kitty. Not real ones, just to play with.