All Aboard!

For the past few weeks the boys have been waking up and, very first thing, removing a link off of their choo-choo countdown chains, waiting in anticipation for this special day--the day they got to take a ride aboard the Mt. Rainier scenic railroad. Boy oh boy was Hank ever excited! The entire 26 mile drive from our house to the train depot, I got to listen to a non-stop chorus of "choo-choo!"s and "ba-ba-ba! (Max's version of "all aboard!)"

When we arrived at the train depot, the boys were very curious about the workings of the train and watched closely as the engine pulled into the station, hooked up with the train cars, turned on its lights, blew smoke, and, much to the boys' delight, blew its loud whistle.

Hank thought he was pretty cool when he got to wear the engineer's hat!

Hank hung his head out of the window the entire trip, waving to the cars at every crossing.

At the midpoint in the ride, the train stopped at a lake to allow the passengers to view the scenery and eat a snack. Max was not happy to be getting off of the train and said in his stern little voice, "Mo (more) choo-choo!" Later, when our ride was over and we were loading into the car to go back home, again Max complained and said, "No choo-choo bye-bye!" Needless to say, the boys had a blast. Thank you Nana and Papa Grover for the great ride:)