Trains, trains, trains

Every boy dreams of a fantasy train museum and camping extravaganza, right? Well, a week or two ago (I lose track of time) little J got that very wish. I'm sure later down the road we'll have to do a repeat trip as otherwise he won't remember anything but what the pictures tell him. The fam headed out to Strasburg, PA, home of the Amish and lush green landscapes to go back in history. We visited the National Toy Train Museum which houses an extensive array of model trains dating back to the late 1800s and up. Not that little J cared about those when there were buttons to push that made model trains go chug chug around extensive displays of mountain passes and tunnels, railroad crossings and bridges. I'm sure he ran around one display 100 times to watch one train come out of the tunnel on the other side of the wall. What fun! Another display he had fun waiting until all 5 trains were stopped and then he'd run around pushing all 5 buttons at top speed to get them all going at once. Needless to say we spent quite some time in this museum. B was more interested in the models to see and the displays that had cars and fire trucks come out at the push of a button, which was pretty cool too.

And, ahhh, camping that night was quite splendid. It'd been entirely too long since I'd been one with nature and it was what I had been itching to do since, oh, last spring when I was 8 months pregnant and couldn't go. Well, I technically could, but since I'd been there done that with B I knew better. Optimism only goes so far before reality sets in and it's raining all night with a bladder that will not stop. I'll spare the details. A lesson learned indeed. So, where was I, yes the glory of cooking over a stove, setting up shelter for the night and the kids finding nature their only toy (other than the playground at the campsite) was what I needed. We went to bed crossing our fingers the kids would sleep through the night and woke up with them still crossed, early, but undisturbed otherwise. Yay! We will do it again and not be terrified!

After loading up we checked out the Train Museum of PA which has loads of old renovated trains, such as the one above, that were way cool to see. Little J's favorite part? The train tracks. He had to bend down to see them under each train. "I've been workin' on the railroad" came to mind several times. This museum also had a 'fun station' which had model trains, Thomas and other wooden train tables, Geo Trax, and Leggo trains. We didn't have time for them all but at the Leggo one you could actually make your own Leggo train and send it around a little track. How cool is that?!

After this musuem we went to ride on an authentic steam engine. The ride was lovely, we even got to see it twice as it was not a loop ride but back and forth, oh well. It was a great, scenic ride and Baby A entertained us all as she was exhausted and couldn't get enough snuggling of little J. She's a burrower that one and little J got quite the kick out of her 'loving him'.

B came home and couldn't stop talking about the trip she was so excited about the adventure. All in all a wonderful trip and we hope to repeat it, perhaps adding another day, in a few years before we leave the East.