"A portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Jax still loves trains, which surprises me. For Christmas, Jax got a new train set from his cousin, who has many perks working at a toy store. You know, like working on "black friday"-fun! She has lots of stories about those times. Anyway, for a few days since we got back from our Christmas vacation, we actually didn't let Jax open this present because he was having a difficult time adjusting back to our normal routines and we didn't want to reward that sort of behavior. Recently, he's made some improvements - vast to him, I'm sure, while to us - well - we foolishly expect more, but hey, he's 3!

Since it's the start of the new year, it's only natural to be reflecting on what one has gone through and achieved in the past year. People come up with new year's resolutions and new projects. I'm not one for  announcing my full resolutions, cause I feel like there is more pressure that way! but there are those who are much braver than I, like the following mamas:

So there you have it, one more project to add to my list ;) but this should be an okay one to handle since I share photos with you all already and they always happen to be of my family! What about you guys? Wanna join & link up? Go here.



Happy Sunday!

The Train to Christmas Town is coming!

Overview:

“Train to Christmas Town” is coming to Santa Cruzfor the Holiday Season! Based on the just-published holiday book “The Train to Christmas Town” that tells the heartwarming tale of a young girl's journey to trust in the magic of Christmas through the support of family, friends and a host of characters, birds, a squirrel, elves and, of course, Santa Claus. The tale is about a little girl who looks forward to riding the Train to Christmas Town every year with her brother and Grandmother, but this year is a little different, as readers of the story already know. Accompanied by a bag full of surprises, woodland friends and jolly elves, Janice relives happy memories as she rides the train to Christmas Town once again.

See the story come to life as families ride the same train with Janice and her friends. The conductor will welcome you aboard and punch your ticket as you find your seat in the decorated train cars. Meet Bumblebee the Polar Bear, Wabash the Squirrel, even Zephyr the depot cat and laugh along with Elves while they’re busy serving cookies and cocoa, and leading guests in singing Christmas carols. Upon arrival at Christmas Town, Santa climbs on board and walks through the cars greeting each child with holiday cheerand his signature “Ho, Ho, Ho”

So, if your kids are anything like mine - they will LOVE this opportunity to ride on an actual train!! My kids really don't have any idea about Santa just yet, but I know my Jax loves him some trains! One of the best toys we have are his train sets. He can play with those all day long. Riding the steam trains in Tilden park is one of his favorites as is seeing the amtrak trains coming in at Jack London. Another favorite is to yell - ALL ABOARD!!

So get your tickets here or call 1-888-978-5562 to climb aboard!

Choice of miniature golf, laser tag, or 12 arcade tokens is included with Train to Christmas Town ticket price.

About the trains:

The Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Railway is a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings, and operates freight and passenger train services on the Santa Cruz branch rail line extending from Watsonville to Davenport. Iowa Pacific operates holiday excursion and special event trains around the world and operates the passenger train in Machu Picchu, Peru (!).




Disclosure: I will be receiving free tickets for sharing this information with you. No other forms of compensation was received. As always, the thoughts and opinions are solely my own. But Jax really does LOVES trains! I'm excited to get to do this for him. I'll write up a review once we get our tickets and go. I'll let you know how the kiddos like it!