Trains and Winter Rains

We spent an afternoon @ the convention center full of model trains. Who knew there are train clubs/collectors and they share their collections? The boys were crazy! Ezra was so excited to play with such a huge track in an open space, I couldn't get him away to go to the bathroom. Mady and Niki thought it was pretty cool too. Mady was impressed by the tiny collections and all the work that it must have taken to put all the exhibits together. She also loved the fact that many of the collections included more than just trains. Several exhibits had entire towns created around them with tiny animals. Niki played trains with Ezra while Luke walked the hall with Jules in an attempt to locate the perfect train to take home. We left with several new additions to our collection, including the roundhouse (train house it has been dubbed) for the trains to sleep in. We were going to ride the train after we had finished @ the convention center but the kids were done for the day.


We parked a good distance from the convention center. On our walk, Niki spied some fun plants, which we decided must be some relation to cabbage. She asked me to take some pictures for her. The convention center had an interesting feature. Throughout some of the long corridors encompassing the building, there are mirrored ceilings. We had fun playing in them. I think the kids were really on a mission to get to the exhibit bc no one was interested in slowing down to make faces in the mirrors with me. Ezra was not ready to leave when the rest of us were. It must have taken us 30 minutes to get out of the exhibit hall and a couple more trains from Aunt Jessie and Julie! When we were on the road, it was decided we would head to Nenaw's house to spend the night. We didn't arrive home until late yesterday. I stayed up late to clean the house since Daddy is hunting out @ the cabin with Bill and Papaw. The kids stayed up and played with their new trains. Niki really enjoys playing with her brothers and they enjoy playing with her just as much. It was weekend full of memories for me.

Book finds & ice cream

This is the weekend Mady has to go stay with her dad, or @ her dad's house as the case maybe...which it usually is. Her dad travels for work and is rarely home. Mady doesn't always enjoy going, but then, she doesn't always like being here either!

I actually got Dom to spend the afternoon with the boys and I took Niki to Border's and to Cold Stone Creamery. I am a book...addict? I love books. I am trying to grow our classics collection. I never read most of the well known classics. I am enjoying reading them to the kids. Normally when I shop for books I will buy on Half.com or Amazon or go to Half Price books. Today we purchased books @ Border's bc we had a coupon. I think we did alright. I purchased 3 hardback books by EB White some wooden toys for Niki and the boys, Mad Libs (one of my favorites!) and a couple of beginning reader books Niki thought she may like to try after I showed them to her.

We attempted to ride the train near the zoo but it's closed for the holiday! I don't think we will ever get to ride that train. We have zoo passes yet every time we are near that area I never have any cash, the train station only takes cash. Sometimes we are on a time limit and we run out of time, sometimes we are too tired after we have been to the zoo. However, I have made it our goal for Wednesday to ride the train! We are headed over to another attraction in the area and we are going to ride that train around the city and catch the gorgeous view of the river! Ummm, actually, I haven't watched the weather, so I suppose I should add only if weather permits.

Oh, we got a book of science experiments cheap too. I am sure I could have pulled them from the web, but sometimes it is nice just to have it already printed out and ready to go whenever the mood strikes. It came with a few odds and ends to perform the experiments as well. So, I am off to work on an experiment of Niki's choosing since she has watched her new movie and probably some Mad Libs!