Rudolph's Favorite Train Ride

Recently, we had a friend from church give us a gift certificate for all 4 of us to ride on the SAM Shortline which is a local train that has a small route through some of the small South Georgia towns in our area.  Knowing how much our kids--B especially--love trains, we knew we couldn't pass this up.  And as a bonus, she gave three other gift certificates to three other families in our church, so we all went last night as a group.  What fun we had!

The night started with an early dinner at a local pizza place, then we caravanned to the train depot about half an hour away.  We turned in our gift certificates for tickets, met the conductors, and boarded the train.  The kids were SO excited.

The ride was short, but with eight kids--six of which were five-years-old or younger--it was just the right amount of time.  The train was decorated for Christmas complete with lights, and there was Christmas music playing onboard.  We disembarked at the depot station in town where there was a small amount of shopping to be done.  There was a room with lots of Thomas the Train stuff that kept my kids, particularly B, quite occupied during the hour we were there.  There were also people selling baked goods, jams, and jellies, a Santa with elves, and the conductor read The Polar Express to the kids.  Then we hopped back onboard for our return trip.

Once we arrived back at our starting point, I must have snapped 20 pictures of the kids in an effort to get a decent one.  This is the best I got--and it leaves much to be desired.

It was a really fun time with friends both old and new.  And it was a new experience for both of our kids--I don't think either of them had ever been on a train before, and they had a blast!