The Polar Express Train Ride

Oscar and I got to ride on a train last Thursday on the New Hope and Ivyland Railway. We went with my friend Christine, her two boys, and several other teacher-friends and their children. Before the train, we went to see a large gingerbread house display and run around for a bit at Peddler's Village.

 Checking out the fish, and generally running around.

The guardrail for the gingerbread houses was understandably tall, but between tip-toes and a few boosts, O.K. managed to see them all.

Some of the boys who were in our group (the boy next to Oscar happens to be in my class this year--he was VERY sweet with O.K..)

The train!

 Then it was time to ride! We got on the train and took a ride through the countryside.

 O.K. on the train.

 While we rode, Santa and Mrs. Claus came through and chatted with the kids, the kids were given hot chocolate, cookies, and candy canes, and this guy came through with his banjo to lead some carols. Each child was also given a special jingle bell to ring.

 Back on the platform, the boys played with the machines.

 Then, right before it was time to leave, we got to see an engine getting coupled onto the next train. 

It was a fun day.

Santa and Trains

We took our now annual trip down to Reading Terminal Market to see the model train exhibit with a few friends and their tots last weekend.

Oh, what fun!

Oscar really liked pushing the buttons to make the trains and other things move in the display. 

 Admiring the sweets with Lucy (clearly MY kid).

Then we all caravan-ed over to Love Park to see the Christmas Village. With all of the levels and steps, it was not very stroller friendly, but we stayed long enough to get an ornament and see this guy:

 

Santa! Without worry, Oscar found his spot on Santa's lap. He even told Santa that he wanted "a crane" for Christmas and thanked him when we were leaving. I still have mixed feelings about the whole Santa thing, but I can't not love these annual moments and the way they mark time passed each year.

Tree Trimming Time

We wish we were the types that go out to some farm in the country to chop down our own tree and drink hot cocoa in some be-twinkled barn, but we aren't--at least not yet. We managed to drive down Baltimore Avenue a short way,

 wander around a parking lot full of trees until we found the right one, 

 and call the whole thing done and done.

After some wrestling with the lights comes the fun part--ornaments! There were casualties, but soon O.K. started to get the hang of it.

O.K.'s ornament hanging strategy: find the right branch, and then sort of drop the ornament close to the tree, hoping it'll stick. Surprisingly, this works about half of the time.

(Is O.K. really this tall???)

 Officially trimmed!

Santa Sent Oscar a Video...

and here it is:  Video from Santa. Oscar watched in awe. And though he can't read yet, when Santa got to the part about a special toy just for him, Oscar whispered "a crane" (so at least I know I'm on the right track).

A Couple of Talkies, Part 2

In this second clip, he is reciting some of I'm Big, a book about a lost dinosaur looking for his herd. I can't quite get over how quickly he memorizes the books we read (and reread and reread). He'd nearly recited the whole book before I got the camera out and asked for an encore [of about half].

A Couple of Talkies

This first clip is from early September (due to technical glitches I'll post the second in the next post). It's amazing how much more talkative Oscar has gotten in less than two months.

 

Arrrrrgh! (and Trick-or-Treat!)

O.K.'s been pickin' up silly pirate phrases in preparation for Halloween, like "Ahoy, matey" and "You scurvy dogs", but his favorite is definitely "Swab the deck!". He got the chance to practice his pirate-ese more than once--first at a Halloween-themed party on Sunday afternoon, and then out for his first real trick-or-treat on Halloween.

 On the way to party with his friends (sadly, I didn't get many good pics once we were there--packs of toddlers on the move can be hard to document).

Halloween night, we went to Art and Peggy's house in Bala Cynwyd for dinner, and then trick-or-treated around their neighborhood. Peggy and her sweet puppy, Murray, got into the spirit in matching bee costumes.

 Captain O.K. out lookin' for treasure

 Oscar had the important "trick or treat" phrase down when we practiced in between houses, but when the giant bowl of candy would come into view he'd just stand there, mesmerized by sugar.

The neighborhood we were in was just beautiful--huge old homes decorated for the occasion, colorful costumes parading around, laughing children. It was such a fun night for us all--the first of many Halloweens to look forward to in the years to come.