All Aboard

Our little guy Tyler is SO into trains. One of the most frequently used phrases in our home is "Momma, will you fix the track?", of course referring to his play train track, where he could literally spend hours make-believing his way through the train yard with his "friends" Thomas, Percy and Gordon, to name a few!

Through perfect planning (OK, so maybe totally coincidentally), we were able to take Tyler for a ride on a "really big" train the day after his birthday. A nearby town was hosting a train festival...that's right an entire city block closed off and devoted to ALL THINGS TRAINS!! He was so mesmerized watching the train come down the track.


Tyler really enjoyed looking at all of the electric train exhibits (just like Grandad's). But hands down, the biggest hit of the day came when a big train pulled up to the station and we told Tyler to go ahead and get on!! With his ticket hand, he hopped onto the train and found an empty seat.




It was just a short trip (a few stops up the track and back) on the commuter train, but Tyler had SO much fun. He would go back and forth between Les and I, so that he could check out what was outside of each of the windows.


He loved the fact that there was a special place just for his very own cup (which was Thomas, of course).


He enjoyed it so much that as soon as we got off, he asked to go for another ride! And, he continued talking about riding the train again for at least another whole day! Daddy must have had fun, too...because he told Tyler that maybe someday we could take a trip on a train!

Lucas had fun too, but being in the "I have to know and see and touch everything" stage, he was a little difficult to contain. He really wanted to be down on the floor exploring! It was a pretty clean train, but my somewhat OCD self could not allow him to dust their floors with his hands and knees. Since we obviously could not take our stroller or a car seat on the train with us, it was a long 45 minutes trying to keep him entertained.


We can't wait for next summer's festival. With Lucas being two, and able to walk and talk, it's sure to be a blast!!

Two Boys + Playtime = Disaster

I have two boys...I have always wanted two boys and I am loving every minute of it. Exhausting sometimes - Yes. But, I still wouldn't trade it for anything. I am learning though, that while boys are fun, they are also SO destructive. At least mine are!! Take for example, Tyler's train table. Tyler is ALL boy and loves anything with wheels, especially his CARS and his trains. He especially loves playing with both on his train table.

I think one of the phrases I hear most often in a day is "momma...can you fix the track". Or actually, this might be a close second to "NO LUKEY!" (we are still working on our nice, friendly, inside voice). Many times though...I am hearing "momma...can you fix the track", directly after having heard "NO LUKEY!"...so you can imagine that Lucas is often the responsible party in the destruction of the track.

But, what can I do, (aside from moving Lucas to another area of the playroom and giving him other toys to play with)? He is only 14 months old after-all, and just doesn't really understand it all yet. Besides, he just wants to be playing with his big brother, whom he absolutely ADORES (although, I'm beginning to wonder who adores whom, more).

So, even if it means me rebuilding the track (literally) 100 times a day (okay, maybe not THAT many...but it sure feels like it's every 5 minutes!), I still won't make Lucas leave Tyler alone, because all I really want is for them to become best buds and love playing with one another. Anyway, this is good practice for them both, right? Lucas is learning how to play and Tyler's learning how to play nicely.

This is the the track completely set up, with all trees, people and accessories we have!!



This is the remnants of my beautiful track, just about 10 minutes after putting it all together!!


Oh the joys of having two boys!! :)