We had the best evening at Winner's Park in Flowood with Natalie and her girls, Shelia and Courtney. It was the last night to see Santa and ride the train, and the weather was warmer than usual so there were lots of people at the park. We ran into a few friends and enjoyed getting to catch up.
As soon as we arrived, our little Tripp was determined he was going to ride the train. Immediately. However, there was quite a line so Tripp had to exercise a little patience, along with the rest of our gang. We didn't know that Tripp even liked trains, so this whole trying-to-jump-ahead-of-everyone-in-line thing was news to us.
Here is a picture of us right after we all got loaded up. As we got going, Natalie and I both decided this was the fastest kid train we had ever been on...like riding the Amtrak through Winner's Park! The guy running it made $6 alone just from our little car, so I'm sure he was running that train along that sidewalk as much as possible. haha. But we really enjoyed it, and could have riden a few more times. I let Tripp stand by the outer window and hold on and he loved it! Looking back, riding that little train was a lot easier than running after our four little munchkins, ages three and under! :)
Above is a shot of some of us as we waited in line for the train. Tripp had just finished his major "I don't want to wait" meltdown, so I was quick to whip out the handy-dandy emergency "nanny" (pacifier). He's gotten so big now, so he REALLY looks silly with that in his mouth. Courtney and Mollie were enjoying hanging out with Curt. 
Mollie is so glad her daddy is back in town!
I'm so glad my camera shot fast enough to capture this HUGE hug Courtney gave Mollie! We laugh at how Mollie bosses all three of the younger ones. Tripp and Shelia just ignore her commands, and Courtney just loves her anyway!
As I am typing this now, I can feel how sore my biceps are today from this workout in the train line last night. Let me explain this one. Little Mr. Tripp could not stand to wait any longer for this train, and wanted to be held in line. He really weighs a ton. That is why I am fake-smiling in this picture. We don't typically walk around holding him anymore. We just pretty much run after him, but tonight was different. And his heaviness was not the only issue, he kept working against me by leaning down. I thought he wanted to get down at first, but then realized this is how he wanted to be held. And then he closed his eyes and was saying "baby night-night"! Hilarious. But it worked, and he entertained himself until it was our turn to ride. And I got a little gym-free muscle burn in the meantime!
Courtney and Shelia had the best time playing in the Candyland.
Shelia was so funny trying to "ride" this electrical light-up dog!
My camera was set on a special night-time setting, and turned all the Christmas lights into a visual fireworks display instead, but this is a shot of Mollie and Tripp waiting for their turn to see Santa (in the background fire pit, haha!). Courtney and Shelia were terrified to be near Santa, and decided they would just stick close to their Mommy.
This is Courtney running up to Tripp to give him a big hug! First time EVER, and he ran away. Typical for a little fellow. :)
And then we finally made it to see Santa. Tripp was SO disinterested but he stayed in his lap until we let him down. And Mollie told Santa all about that scooter she wants for Christmas.
She would have never dreamed Santa was coming to her front door later on that evening! We really enjoy hanging out with our families and making memories for these little ones. And can't wait to do it all again next Christmas!
