All aboard!!!!!!

To celebrate Jackson's birthday, the holiday and just a fun day in Branson we all (Mah/Dah, Cam Hills, Ama, Gma Sarah, Clawson's, GaGa/PaPa & These Hills) header to Branson to enjoy the Polar Express train ride. We had a blast! We started the day with shopping at the outlet malls (knocked out some Christmas shopping!) and then headed to the train. It was FREEZING!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside the train station there was this wonderful train table for the kiddos to play with while they waited. (Chaz has no idea but he will be getting one of these for Christmas. He will be so excited) At times I was very worried we would not be able to pull the kiddos from the play train in order to ride the big train!

Ryan fell for the "impulse, occasional buy" and purchased this conductor's hat. It turned out to be a great buy because he is absolutely adorable in it~ evidence is below.

He was so tired he could barely hold his eyes open...

Good thing there was a sweet GaGa for him to rest on.
We sat the boys down on the bench outside (did i mention it was FREEZING!!) thinking we had the perfect opportunity for a photo op. Nope.. Ben was not having it. The other two boys remained for what we thought would be a good runner up picture... Nope.. the are tired, cold and zoned..And then we got this stellar photo.. what the heck?!?! Are they drunk?
Once aboard (not we got an entire car to ourselves.. there were 17 of us!!) one of the train guys comes around and asks for all the kiddos tickets. He then asks their name and takes a hole punch and punches their names in the ticket. Very cool! This is Ben patiently waiting for his...

Brandon waiting for his....

They gave us cookies and hot (cold) chocolate. Brandon loved the cookie!

Ben loved Chaz's hat :)

and his cookie. Look at those cute little lips!
This Santa was to die for...seriously did they get this guy directly from the north pole?? He could not have been more perfect. He gave each one of the kids a shiny silver bell. Here is Jackson getting his..

The boys getting theirs. Note: Ben looks quite calm in this picture but was really scared to death of Santa..

Yep there is a better shot of Ben. Check him out in the lower right corner. Poor baby was in hysterics! Santa was so good every other time he came through he was sure to figure out where Ben was and avoid him at all costs. And the rest of the picture is Meme and Chaz getting his bell.

Ben and Brandon in one of the rare photos of them both (with neither crying or turning the other way) During some boredom Ryan decided to "test the strength of the kids clothing line" yep he picked them up from the back and played helicopter. He would then "land" the cousins on one another. The kids LOVED it , the moms.. not so much!

Chaz sat with Cameron and Jackson most of the time. He had a blast!

He loved looking out the windows at the dancing elves and the light show. It was very cool

In the middle of the trip Chaz climbed up in my mom's lap and put his head on her shoulder.. Then Meghan looked down to notice him sucking his thumb (which he hasn't done his entire life)... remnants of cookie or really tired? you be the judge!
Less than a minute later he had his third wind. Ryan was holding Jackson and Chaz decided he wanted to be held (and a sweet kiss for payment)

He then decided Jackson owed Ryan a kiss--hence him forcing Jackson to kiss Ryan's cheek!
Sitting on Dah's lap watching the lights go by.. check out the cool reflection.

Jackson being silly!

Meme and Chaz looking at the dancing elves. Chaz was blowing them kisses.

Meme sat on Daddy's lap because the lights were on his side. Look at the reflection-- it looks like a house but is actually a flat structure that is wrapped with lights in a way that it looks 3D!!

We had such a great time!