While the younger children played, Jacob and Brittany were fully engaged in their electronic devices.
When got on the train, we found they'd set aside a group of seats for our group. The only problem was there were 9 of us. The seats were on both sides of the aisle in groups of four facing in. Our 9th seat was a row down sitting with three other people at a table. No one wanted to be the one to sit there alone so I ended up with Miriam on my lap. The novelty of the train soon dissipated and the children plugged into their books and electronics.
Everyone was thirsty so some of the children made the trek to the dining car. We were in car 9, at the end of the train. The dining car was between cars two and three. At the end of each car is a door that must be opened to go from the passenger seating area of the car to the vestibule between cars. So to get from car 9 to the dining car, we had to open 14 doors that open with the sound of an airlock being activated, then make our akward way down the swaying car to the next door. To get back to the car, we had to repeat the process of opening those 14 doors. I'm sure more than a few people were irritated by our large group making our clumsy and noisy way up and down the train.
It was Isaac Colson's first time on a train. It didn't take long before he ended up plugged into his ipod.
William loved sitting by the window.
My mom got on the train in Edmonds with Millie, Gabriel and Carmen. My mom told me that Carmen said our visit to Santa is her favorite day of the year. I don't know if it's the favorite day for my children, but it's up there in the top five! The train car we were in was packed so they ended up many cars away from us. Miriam left to sit with them so I got my own seat for the second half of the trip.
We arrived in Seattle where we were quickly ushered out of the train station. They've been remodeling for years and have gotten to the point where you get off the train, walk through a temporary hall of drywall and end up outside without even a chance to use the restroom or mentally collect yourself.
We headed over to the Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton hotel. It was funny to watch Miriam, William and Gabriel make their way around the city. They've been coming down, doing the same things each time for as long as they can remember. They are completely at home walking the city streets and not the least bit intimidated by the crowds or traffic. They wind their way through fancy building entrances, play tag with each other, chat and exclaim at the sights.
This year the gingerbread village theme was fairy tales.
Chronicles of Narnia
The BACK of the Little Mermaid house.
We got a text that they were ready to head back to Santa as we were finishing up with the gingerbread houses. We walked back to Nordstroms and got in line. They told us it would be about 30 minutes but it ended up being closer to an hour. When we were next in line, they told us that Santa needed to go feed his reindeer and would be back shortly. The same thing happend to us last year and we told Santa's helper but she just shrugged and said sorry. We did some serious damage on their cookie supply. Miriam and William each had four!
Playing on Boma's Ipad, cookie in hand
The group. This year we went with a burgandy, black and dark grey color scheme.
Telling Santa what they want.
Elizabeth has been recently diagnosed with lactose intolerance. She thought the milkshake would be worth the pain. She thought it tasted amazing but soon decided it was not worth the tummy ache.
Everyone was stuffed by the time we left and headed for Barnes and Noble where everyone gets to select one book. We always set up base in the children's area and once our many books and bags were dumped in a pile, everyone set off in different directions to choose a book. Gabriel and Anastaya both went knowing what they wanted, but the rest of us did a bunch of browsing before selecting just the right book.
home base at the bookstore
Our last yearly tradition is a ride on the antique carousel at Westlake Park. I managed to sneak away while they were in line to finally use my See's gift certificate. It's tough to choose between my favorites (Scotchmellow or Bridge Mix) but I opted for variety and went for Bridge Mix. For those who aren't familiar with this tasty old time candy, it's a mix of chocolate covered goodness: caramel, nougat, coconut, toffee, nuts, raisins. You never know what you'll find when you pop a piece in your mouth. I love the surprise of it. But, I always have to finish with a good one (I don't really like the raisins or coconut).
Laden down with leftovers and books, we reversed our steps and headed back towards the train station. We had a little while until we needed to be to the train so we diverted to Uwajimaya to stock up on some hard to find Asian foods. Taking that many children into a busy grocery store may be a bit foolhardy but we survived, and the store did too!
The train ride down is always more interesting because we can watch the world go by out the windows. On the ride back in the dark, we have our new books to keep us occupied. We got home around 8:45, with Dode literally running through the house to cover up a Christmas gift he was assembling. Dode said I didn't seem as wiped out this year as in year's past. Good thing because we had produce arriving at 4:30 am the next day!
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