Santa Train 2010

It's time for our 10th annual Santa Train trip.  My mom, (Boma to the kids), treats us to a fun day in Seattle. 

We start with a train trip on Amtrak.  This year, we left from the station in Everett.  My mom, Millie, Gabe and Carmen joined us on the train in Edmonds. Taking the train is definitely not the most efficient way to travel.  We need to leave home an hour before the train departs the station to give us time to park, get to the station, wait for the train, and get on the train.  When the train pulls in, it remains in the station for less than two minutes.  So, there's always the stress of keeping the kids, bags, and stroller right beside me and ready to go at a moment's notice.  Then, the train ride itself takes about an hour.  So, by the time we arrive at the train station in Seattle, we've been on the road for two hours. (It takes me about an hour to drive to Seattle).  Once in Seattle, we have to walk to the Metro tunnel to catch a bus to down town, adding a bit more time to the commute.  But, the kids think riding the train is a great treat.  The train ride is always more fun on the way down.  The kids are fresh and rested, it's light out so we can see out the windows, they're looking forward to all the fun they're going to have. 

waiting for the train

They'd oversold the train so instead of sitting in standard seats, they sat us in the dining car.    If we were just a small group, it would have been easy to find us single seats here and there.  But, there was no way it would work for us.  It felt pretty typical to be a too big family difficult to accommodate!  Due to the inconvenience, they gave us coupons for free beverages.The kids drank them down and once we were in Seattle, someone had to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes.  (I think I know where to find a bathroom anywhere in the four block radius we frequent on our yearly trips!)   

William enjoying his time in the dining car

Once we get to Seattle, we take the underground buses to downtown. The kids try to hold their breath as we go through the tunnels. I don't think anyone ever makes it. The bus tunnel has a station right underneath where we go for our Santa picture.

We always go to the Nordstrom's Santa.  They're really nice at making the time spent in line (1 1/2 hours this year) more bearable by periodically passing things out: crayons/paper, hand warmers, cookies and more cookies, cider.  The kids spent their time coloring, people watching, and playing on Millie's ipad.  I had dead batteries in my camera so William and I took a walk around the block to a drug store to buy some more.  We also left the line to go to Starbucks and get a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.    I'd read on someone's blog that they're to die for.  I don't think the person who made that claim had ever had the Extreme Dark Hot Chocolate from Dillatante or Hot Chocolate from Fran's because I just don't agree.  Unfortunately, after getting the Starbucks cocoa, I was hot chocolate'd out and missed out on Dillatante.  I will know better next year!  With our trip to the drug store and Starbucks plus two separate trips with different children to the restroom while waiting in line, the time passed fairly quickly for me.

I let the kids vote if they wanted to wear church clothes or matching shirts/scarves.  They chose scarves.  Miriam wore the same Santa dress she wore last year.  She's been wearing it around the house for over a month.  Isaac's scarf is artfully hiding a spot on the front of his shirt.  Anastaya spent a lot of time in line smoothing down her newly straight hair.  Elizabeth made sure her long hair was pulled to the front to show it off.  Jacob is trying to achieve the proper "cool" stance.

After the photo, each of the children got a chance to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Here's Elizabeth letting him know she wants Wii Music. 

We always eat at the Cheesecake Factory where the kids can find something they like off the extensive menu.  Usually there's a long wait for a table, but this year we got right in.  Most of the kids ordered pizza.  The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake was a perfect finish to lunch. 

We shared slices of this rich decadence.  It was so rich, there was even some left over to take home.  Yum!

Then it was time for the Gingerbread Village.  We crossed the street to the Sheraton hotel where professional chefs and architects collaborate together to build amazing gingerbread creations.  You can make a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation at the exhibit.  Anastaya and Jacob noted the irony of it.  We had to make a few more bathroom stops here.  As I was taking someone to the bathroom, I overheard some ladies behind me decide to follow me because , "It looked like I knew where I was going".  Finding public restrooms is one of my talents.

Our next stop is always the book store.  We went to Barnes and Noble where everyone gets to choose a book as a gift from Boma.  The girls knew just what they wanted and quickly selected theirs.  The boys took a bit more time.  We enjoyed the quiet time away from the hussle and noise of Seattle to browse.

Our final fun stop of the day was the Carousel at Westlake Plaza. 

After some window shopping in Westlake Center, it was time to head back to the train station for the trip home.  Jacob and I diverted off into the International District to visit Uwajimaya (a huge Asian grocery store in Seattle) so I could get some difficult to find ingredients for making Pad Thai.  The train ride home is always harder.  The kids are tired and hungry, it's dark outside the windows, people on the train seem crankier.  This time, we weren't able to sit together and were scattered around the car.  Miriam was heartbroken because somehow, we'd manage to not purchase a book for her.  So, she sat sobbing in her seat to the delight of everyone sharing the train with us.  Fortunately, I'd bought her a book for Christmas that I was able to produce to take some of the disappointment away.

We left the house at 9:00 am and made it home around 8:30 pm.  It was a full, fun, exhausting day.  I was glad the next day was a Saturday we didn't have to get up early and do produce.