Snow Day

Brayden stayed with us for this winter's snow day. We almost made it all winter without seeing any snow so we were kinda glad to see it come. Brayden woke up super early so Pappa watched him while Nanna went back to bed. When I woke up this is what I saw. Pappa had gotten Brayden all dressed up in his snow gear and they headed outside.




Pappa had fixed up a bin lid and a rope and was pulling Brayden around in the yard. They were so cute. Brayden brought a small sled with him but they had a little better luck with their redneck version.

No snow day would be complete without a snow man. This little snowman they made from the snow on top of the hot tub. Brayden took his gloves off for the finishing touches. He was not happy until his snow man had buttons.

Then we finished off the morning making sugar cookies. I let him do most of the work. I think their was as much sugar on the table, floor, and Brayden as their were on the cookies, but we had a great time. Nothing like a little "sprinkles" to brighten up your day.

Now "nap time".

Riding the train

Last week Troy was on fall break and we took Brayden up to Van Buren to ride the train. Troy, Ann, Brayden, and I left Bismarck on Thursday morning and traveled north to Van Buren. We spent the day checking out the park and town.
We walked through the park down from Main Street. There was a nice wide walkway through the park and a mural painted along the wall.

One of Brayden's favorite things right now is railroad crossings. He was very excited to see this one.

Van Buren's Main Street.

Brayden wasn't too sure he wanted up close to the scarecrows but we finally got him to stand up next to one.

The train station.

Waiting for the train. All dressed up with his hat on and his train whistle. The train had a senior tour group there that day and he was a big hit.

First look at the train.

The train pulled into the station getting ready for the trip to Winslow.

We had to get a picture of the caboose. Brayden really wanted to ride in it, but when I found out there was no heat or air conditioning I decided we wanted in the dome car. After we were seated I found out the air conditioning wasn't working up in the dome of the car we were in.

Waiting to depart. We sat up in the dome on the way to Winslow. The air condition wasn't working in this part of the car, but they had a fan up there and the view was great.

Departing the station. Brayden was very excited to be on a real train. He was seriously taking it all in ( at least for the first 5 minutes).

Ann waiting for the train to depart.

About 5 minutes into the train ride Brayden fell asleep. He had worked himself up so much he was exhausted by the time the actual ride began. He slept most of the way to Winslow. He woke up right as we were entering the tunnel outside of Winslow.

Even though we were a little early for the fall colors the mountains were still beautiful.

Getting ready to enter the tunnel. Since we were seated up in the dome there were windows all along the sides and up above us also. The view was great.

On the trip back to Van Buren from Winslow we went down to the lower part of the car where it was much cooler. Here Brayden and Pappa are checking out the second set of tracks.

Our little engineer, he really seemed to enjoy the trip. I know we all did.

Pigeon Forge

Ripley's Aquarium, Pigeon Forge

During our trip to Pigeon Forge we spent one morning at the Aquarium. It was amazing and everyone had a wonderful time. We saw all kinds of sea creatures.

There was a moving walkway thru the main tank.

There was a play area for the children. Brayden checks out the large oyster.

Brody and Adam pose in the diver's suit.

The boys went up into the center of one of the tanks. They even found Nemo.

Playing in the Penguin tunnel.

Casey Jones Museum

On the way to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee we stopped in Jackson and spent the night. We got up on Saturday morning and visited Casey Jones Museum. Brayden loves trains and he was very excited to be there. We toured the museum, a train replica, and Casey Jones house.

Casey Jones was killed in a train collision in April of 1900, something common for that day.

Casey Jones had a nice house for that day. This is a picture of the children's room with their toy train in the floor.

I guess they were just glad to have indoor plumbing, but it didn't look to inviting to me. Gotta love a shower.

Brayden's favorite place was the train table they had set up in the gift shop. He was not happy when we had to leave to get back in the car again.