Train Show

Last weekend, I took the kids to a model train show.  Kevin had planned to go, but was feeling a bit off and decided that it would be best if he stayed home.  I was worried about keeping track of two kids who often like to run in opposite directions, but it worked out really well.  The kids were insanely well behaved (I saw many displays of behavior that made me very grateful for the two I have) and when we got home, Kevin had cleaned the house.  It was a disaster when we left, and so tidy when we returned.  It was magical.

Malcolm was just tall enough for most of the displays, but I picked him up often so that he could see better.

There were tons of model trains set up and running. We probably saw about half of them, and every time, Malcolm wanted to know, "What's that?" This is where Kevin would have been handy to have around, because he is very good with the detailed explanations. I tire out after the second time the question is asked.

She really wanted to touch the ones that were at her height and I must have said, "Just look, no touch," about 1,000 times.

I had to hold Dorothy up for most of the displays, so I really liked when there were some down low that she could see without help. My arms ached for a couple of days after the show from holding her so much and lifting him up so many times so that he could get a better view.

You would think we didn't have trains at home.

They took a little break and played at a couple of wooden train tables. Dorothy would have played longer, but Malcolm wanted to see everything he could. He also told just about every guy who was running a model train that for Christmas he got, "A train that goes by itself on the tracks."

It's a goofy smile, but he didn't want to stop to look at me for a picture.  It was too exciting to get to drive a real train.

This one was a very large set up where the kids could drive the trains. We plugged in the remote control and there was a dial to make the train go faster and slower. There were also horn, bell, and light buttons. We followed his Green Bay Packers train (we didn't get to choose) all around the tables unplugging and plugging in the remote as we went. Malcolm had to check the signals to make sure that his train was allowed to go. This one was one of his favorite things he did that day, and I'm glad we happened to get to the table early. We only had to wait 5-10 minutes for him to get a turn. I can only imagine how long the wait must have been later once it was more crowded.

Dorothy had been disappointed that she couldn't help at the other table.  I was glad to find one that she could do all by herself.

This was a table with a big Thomas train that was running. There were 4 or 5 little buttons that the kids could push to make things work. The button Dorothy has here makes the lights and bell on the train crossing sign go on.

This section is the "town".  To the left was the Star Wars section and around the corner to the right was the Harry Potter section.  I never got to go around to the other sides to see what they were.

I loved this Lego train display, but the kids were unimpressed and we moved on rather quickly.

The white part in the middle is a ski mountain and it had a sky lift up the mountain that was running.  Malcolm asked a lot of questions about the, "Trains on strings that go up in the air."

I loved that this one was down on the ground and that there were places where the kids could sit on the ground and watch the trains. This one was really big and had lots of trains running at once, so there was always something to see. I liked that I didn't have to hold anyone up.

He was actually more interested in the clamps and the construction of the base than with the whistle.

There was a guy who had rigged up a train whistle for the kids to blow. Dorothy was not impressed with how loud it was and wanted nothing to do with it.

He made a pretty neat set up, but was getting frustrated that other kids would come over and want to run trains on it.

The kids were having fun, but were getting a little antsy by this point, and luckily, there was a big red rug with plastic tracks for them to build with. We took a little break and let them wiggle around and build, and I tried not to think about how disgusting the rug and the tracks probably were. (This is a touring show and this set up has been to a lot of cities. I doubt it gets cleaned. Ever.)

Of course they wouldn't play together.  They each had to do their own thing and it was probably a good break for both of them.

The guy across the table is explaining how to race the trains.

We had to wait a long time, but Malcolm was very excited to get to race a train. This was another high point of his day.

You can see in the background how crowded it was.

The last thing we did that day was having the kids take a ride on Thomas. No, they are not Thomas fans, but they are fans of taking a train ride. Usually. I had asked them if they wanted to ride shortly after we arrived. We were near the ride and the line was a little long, but not crazy. Dorothy wanted to ride, but Malcolm was much too excited by all the electric trains and he talked her into not wanting to ride either. I wasn't going to wait in a line for the ride if they weren't going to actually ride, so we skipped it. Of course, once we were close to getting ready to wrap things up, they had to ride before they could go. They had been really good, so we walked all the way back to where we had been a couple of hours before and stood in the longest line known to man. Luckily, the ride was very short, so the line moved pretty fast.

I told him to hold on to Dorothy since there were not any real seats or straps and he took his job very seriously.  He held her really tight the entire ride.  I'm not sure she could breathe.

Overall, it was a very fun day and we will be checking to see if the show comes back next year.

Full Day Preschool

Today was Malcolm's first day of full day preschool.  He has been very excited about it and has been begging to get to stay since about his first day of school a year and a half ago.  However, this morning he was feeling a little unsure about being so grown up and spent the better part of the morning whining that he just wanted to finish with his trains (it's quite an impressive layout that spans the better part of the living room) and that he just wanted to stay with me.  Sweet, but you are still going to school, kid.

In typical mom fashion, I wanted one nice photo where he is standing still, and looking cute and grown-up on his first full day of school. Ha! Ha! Ha! The best I could manage were two quick shots as he was literally running away into the school. Luckily, I had to pop into his classroom for a minute to change some paperwork, so I snuck in a couple of quick pictures while he was working.

On his way in, he happened to look back and I got lucky.  The other photo I took is just a blur.

He sat right down at a table with a friend and started taping bits of tissue paper down.

He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice me.

Dorothy has gotten a bit used to having him around after two weeks of vacation. When we got into the car to go to gymnastics she told me, "Malcolm missing." I don't know if that meas she misses him or if she just thought he was missing and was supposed to be there. She forgot all about him once she got involved in dismantling his train layout though. I put it back together as best I could, but we'll have to wait and see if he notices that it isn't exactly the same. He would have a fit if he knew that I not only let her do it, but I let her play with his special train engine that "goes by itself on the tracks." I even replaced the battery for her.

I hope he had a great first day. He's due home soon and I hope he's not too excited to nap a bit.

Packed Lunches

Malcolm starts attending school full day this week, so that means that he has to take a packed lunch the 3 days he goes to school.  The school has a no nuts policy which rules out a lot for him.  Malcolm isn't a fan of most meat and beans, but he does eat a lot of nuts.  We'll just have to make nuts a snack time food and find other things for lunch.  My bigger problem is that he is the type of kid who, if he has the same thing twice in one week, won't want to eat it again for a month or more; even if he likes it.  This makes leftovers difficult and Dorothy and I will be the ones left to eat up anything special I purchase to make his lunch. 

Anyway, I need to have a list of ideas to pull from so that I can keep things rotating.  I'll toss in a cheese or ham and cheese sandwich now and then, and there will almost always be fruit.  We always have other small snack things to fill in with, and I hope I can get away with some leftovers once in a while.  I hope to add to this list as the weeks go on, so that by Fall, I will have a nice long list of ideas.  By then, he will be up to five days a week, and I can't just let him eat junk that often.  Here are the rest of my ideas thus far:

Main Dishes:

• yogurt with granola
• hummus with olives on a tortilla, rolled & cut into pinwheels
• antipasto salad
• crackers with pepperoni and cheese
• Caesar salad
• spinach salad with mandarin oranges, blueberries, & strawberries with poppy seed dressing
• bagel with cream cheese
• smoothie
• tomato, basil, mozzarella salad
• cold white pizza with spinach & tomato
• sandwich with cream cheese and raisins
• mac & cheese in an insulated container
• cucumber sandwich
• turkey on pumpernickle with sage cream cheese and cranberry jelly

Side Dishes:

• muffins (freeze to use later)
• carrots, broccoli, radish, and peppers with dip
• cucumber lime salsa with chips or pita
• roasted red pepper and goat cheese dip with pita and/or veggies

Desserts:

• Jello made in small containers