"But That Can Only Happen..."

...on the Polar Express!"

My parents are awesome (and I don't use that word lightly...and not just because of this...)

For Christmas, my Mom wanted to do something different for us as a gift. Back in July she booked us tickets to ride the Polar Express train in Arizona (which, of course, has a non-stop trip to the North Pole...)

We were told when it was and that we needed to keep the ride a secret from all of the kids.

On the morning of December 23rd, we drove to my parent's house and loaded into 2 cars. The kids had no idea what was going on.

We arrived at the hotel, and because my kids L.O.V.E. hotels, they thought that was the whole surprise.

My mom passed out wrapped gifts to everyone.

Jammies. Matching jammies.

Then my Mom told the kids that they needed to hurry and change into their jammies because we were going on the Polar Express!

The kids freaked out. It was adorable.

Everyone scrambled to get changed and we headed to the train station.

We settled into our seats.

The train left the station and the chef-dressed staffers passed out hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.

The conductor came with his special punch and punched each of our tickets.

The chefs walked up and down the aisles reading the Polar Express book.

We sang Christmas songs and before we knew it, we arrived at the North Pole.

Santa Claus stood next to his huge bag of gifts and his elves.

The kids waved and went crazy.

The train turned around to head back to the station and Santa was missing.

The kids were confused.

A few minutes passed and then the door opened and in walked Santa!

It was magical!

He passed out bells to each of the kids and then we spent the remainder of the ride singing Christmas songs at the top of our lungs.

When the ride was over, we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

The next morning, we went to breakfast and then visited the reindeer farm.

Magical memories.

Perfect Christmas Eve Eve.

The Announcement.

The Jammies.

The Snuggles.

The Family.

The Girls.

The Boys.

The Smiles.

The Eyes.

The Kids.

The Big Girls.

The Snow Drippings.

The Left Side.

The Right Side.

The Parents.

The Ticket.

The Wonder.

The Passengers.

The Excitement.

The Story.

The Nana.

The Cousins.

The North Pole.

The Santa.

The Bells.

The Songs.

The Grandpa.

The Momma's Boy.

The Daddy's Girl.

The Snowball Fight.

The Reindeer Farm.

THE END.