Christmas Countdown Day 21 - {Holiday Express Train}

Each year, the KC Southern Holiday Express train comes to Union Station.  We went many years ago when Trent and Taylor were about the same age as Karsten and Liam.  They enjoyed it, so we we decided to check it out again this year with the boys.

I had ordered tickets online, and when we got inside Union Station, I was super relieved we had tickets.  They cut off general admission tickets shortly before we arrived, and the line for people with tickets moved much faster than the general admission line.  We ended up waiting about 35-40 minutes until we could get on the train.  They had a dance group performing on a stage, so we had entertainment - the boys' favorite part was when they danced to Frozen and Olaf appeared.


Cheesy boy - he wouldn't leave Scott's sholders once he lifted him up there.


And someone wasn't too happy that Liam got to ride on Dad's sholders.  But luckily, this turned into a game as Karsten tried to pull Liam's toes.

As we got closer to the entrance, we saw this beautiful display.  We were talking about how cool it would have been to see Union Station as a working train station.  It's such a large, grand building.


When we finally got inside the train, the boys enjoyed checking out the model trains.


There were many things in the trains that the boys wanted to touch but really shouldn't - I lost count of how many times I reminded them not to touch.


Next year I think we'll come visit the train and only check out the outside of the train and not the inside.  The outside is really the cool part.






Liam was excited that the train looked like Thomas! See those bags that Liam is holding?  It contained a shrill train whistle.  Aka - a favorite toy for the boys and an evil toys in parents opinion.


We tried for a family selfie in front of the train, but it looks like the train didn't show up well.  Maybe we needed a selfie stick!


At first the boys wanted to climb on top of the giant bee and didn't believe those ropes were there to keep us from climbing on him.


Next up on our adventure was a walk over to Crown Center to check out the giant tree and play area.
 







We played 'who's taller' with this guy - the verdict is the nutcracker wins!


Then it was time for a picnic inside overlooking the tree.  This was way easier than fighting the crowds at the restaurants in Crown Center.


Liam kept sitting back and saying 'Merry Kistmas eyone'


Someone is worn out after our adventure today.


We went out to play again after dinner, and they wante to stop and have their pictures taken with these guys!




This was a fun family afternoon and evening.  I look forward to doing this for many years to come!


A couple graciously offered to take our family pic if we could take one of them.


We arrived back at Union Station right as they were getting ready to pull the Holiday Express train. I think this may have been the boys favorite part - it was cool watching the train slowly get pulled away.