New Trains!

Oh the Joy!

We are planning on giving the little guy all sorts of fun new trains for Christmas. So we put away his train set for the time being. The Little People have momentarily taken over his train table. We are hoping that the absence of Thomas and friends will make the heart grow fonder! Indeed, I think we are on to something (maybe we should rotate toys more often!).

A couple of days ago a package arrived from Melissa & Doug. The moment Mr. K opened it, A was enthralled. He wanted to get down from the table immediately and was actively grabbing for the Choo-Choos before they were even unwrapped.

We receive the Magic Mine Train Tunnel which is very creative. Not only do the train cars change from empty to full, but it makes a noise when trains (or anything else) go through the tunnel. A was trying so hard to figure this noise thing out! Train cars, trucks, puzzle pieces, sesame street characters, even his leg made the trek down the mine. Hours of great entertainment!

It's about to get hidden for the next few weeks, but I wanted to share some of the joy of a boy being reunited with trains after a week of deprivation :)

Underwood Family Farm ~ Best Birthday Party!

There is this great little farm just 5 minutes from our house. I used to get boxes of vegetables weekly from there - but now just can't keep up! But in addition to having great produce they have lots of great things for kids to do. They have seasonal festivals, a petting zoo, pony rides, trains....it's a little kids paradise.

Another great thing that we discovered this past week was birthday parties. We were invited to a birthday party for a little girl down the street (Happy Birthday!) and it was awesome :) There was a horse drawn carriage ride around the farm, pizza, cake, pinata and then some time to enjoy the activities that usually cost money - for free! A is in quite the horse phase - so he was absolutely enthralled by the horses as well as the pony rides. He kept yelling "neigh" at the top of his lungs. It was very cute. He loves the trains, tractors, pony rides, tractor rides and even hung out sitting on the back of the fire engine with the fire chief for awhile. All in all - quite the amazing day.

I highly recommend Underwood Family Farms for birthday parties - as well as just some great fun :)

Loving the train - and making friends! 

Enjoying his own cow train car - scared Mommy though!

Loved the ponies - not so much the misters!

A little train obsessed...

Like father, like son?

We decided that A needed some early train exposure. We went to a hobby shop where they had a train table set up and he loved moving the trains around the track. So we checked out Craigslist, found a great deal and brought Thomas home. We thought, we'll let him play for a little bit, then hide them until Christmas. 

Well, hours later, he was still playing with Thomas and the bridge. That is a long, long time in toddler attention span. We decided that we had to at least leave him a couple pieces of track and a train to play with - and boy am I glad we did. First thing the next morning he RAN out to play with the train again. So we relented and gave him two pieces of track and a bridge! Let's see how well we keep the rest hidden until Christmas!

So it looks like I have another train lover on my hands. I am so glad :) It melts my heart that he wants to be like his daddy. He stretches like him, wants to do everything daddy does. 

Travel Town - LA

On a whim last Sunday, we decided to go to Travel Town in LA. On a side note, Every time I decide to go to Griffith Park it ends up being over 90 degrees! My husband loves trains, so we take every opportunity we can to indoctrinate A into the world of trains...

We also enjoyed a lunch picnic in Griffith park - lots of picnic tables available...

His rosy cheeks attest to the heat - he scarfed down an entire adult sized water bottle, on top of his sippy of milk! He loved the train ride (and trying to pull the person' hair in front of us). After we got off the train, he wanted to run after it and wave at the folks as they took their turn...too cute :)

He also really enjoyed the "big" trains. Touching the gears, the numbers, looking out windows. Paradise for an inquisitive 13-month old!