Lots and lots of trains.

Today was a fun day! As I mentioned yesterday, we were planning a short day trip today. Despite some rain in the forecast, we decided to take the trip to Flagstaff, mainly to see trains. Okay, mainly to get out of the heat, but centered on seeing trains!

Before we headed out, though, it was present day. Elijah and Abigail opened some presents from the Glicks. We’re going to have some great art projects with these!

After that, we grabbed some breakfast and headed off to Flagstaff. The trip there took a little longer than we hoped just because we had to make a couple stops beforehand and then traffic was really slow for a while. Anyway, it seemed like Elijah’s legs might have been getting a little uncomfortable from the ride, but he only commented on it once so I don’t think it was too bad.

Here’s a video of us just coming into town.

I mentioned in the video that it was 67 degrees out, but it started raining a few minutes after and dropped to about 53 degrees within an hour or so. That really was a little colder than we were expecting, but it was a nice change!

Our first stop was a restaurant that we normally visit when we go to Flagstaff. The main reason we go is because the theme of the restaurant is trains. It’s right across the street from the train tracks, so you can watch trains through the windows. The decor is trains, and it has a model train which circles the restaurant.

After lunch, it was off to the train station. The train station is also the visitor center, and gift shop, so it’s a fun place to visit and either find train gifts or just to watch the trains go by.

We stayed there for a while looking around the shop, playing outside in the puddles, and watching the trains go by. You can also get quite close to the trains as they’re passing by. I happen to think this is really cool, but Elijah did get a little worried when we would get close. Abigail didn’t seem to mind one bit, though!

If you pause the video at the right time, you can even see the engineer hanging out the window waving to us. That was pretty cool!

Here are a couple more pictures of the kids watching the trains go by.

After we spent a while at the train station we decided to head home. On the way back we stopped at a gas station to pick up some special snacks for the ride home. You know, health food, like gummy worms!

Once home it was time for dinner, showers, and bed. It was a fun day and a good time together!