The Polar Express

Last year some friends went on The Polar Express, and I remember them saying how much fun they had.  I knew it was something I wanted us to do for our last Christmas in Vermont.  We had two options, Burlington and White River Junction.  The Burlington one is so popular there is a lottery for tickets.  I was actually selected in the second round for tickets, but decided that White River would be a better option for us. 

I booked tickets on the evening train ride and then we picked out our Christmas jammies as everyone is encouraged to wear their pajamas.  The night before our train ride, we watched The Polar Express movie.  Hadley liked it, but kept saying she wanted to stay inside the train. 

Before the train arrived, the girls got their faces painted as Rudolph and colored some coloring pages.  Then we settled in to wait for the train. 

The girls were excited from the moment we got on the train. 

Next came the “hot, hot chocolate” (not too hot) and cookies.  The conductor also came around to punch our tickets.  He wasn’t quite as talented as Tom Hanks in the movie, but he was still entertaining. 

The train took us to the North Pole where Santa got on the train.  Santa quickly walked through the train, waving and saying hello to everyone.  We were told Santa would be back to give everyone a gift, so we all sang Christmas carols so Santa would find his way back to our train car. 

After a little while, Santa came back around and gave all of the kids their gift, a silver bell. 

Helping lead Christmas carols.

It was a great experience for the girls first train ride.