Special Night

Last year Desert Boy was fascinated by the Christmas train at the Border Inn. When it was put away, he cried. Almost every time we went out to the Border for the next year, he asked if the train was going to be there. Denys appreciated his memory and invited him to help her set up the train. Of course Desert Boy was more than happy to oblige.

He didn't even bother to take off his coat, he was so excited. This little boy can sure work up a lot of enthusiasm!

He was very curious about how this train worked. It runs on batteries, different from his wood trains at home.

Dad helped a bit, too.

Meanwhile Emma was happily exploring everything and was attracted to the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. I think we're going to have to figure out a way to keep her out of our Christmas tree at home once we put one up.

Denys set up her village inside the track, and then it was all ready to go. Except for one problem. The fuzzy white snow had gotten caught around the wheels of the train last year, and it wouldn't let the wheels turn freely, so the train kept stopping. Out came the needle-nosed pliers and began operation Remove the Snow.

Nomi graciously corralled Emma for awhile, keeping her from more trouble.

Operation Remove the Snow was successful, and then it was time to watch the train go around and around the track. And around and around some more. And around and around. While we adults went on to other things like talking and chasing Emma, Desert Boy didn't move from the train table. He wanted to watch that train go around and around some more.

My husband tried to get Emma to pose for a photo, but she had other things in mind. She is getting quite rambunctious.

I think we could have left Desert Boy at the train table all night. He was happy as could be.

I imagine that we'll be going back out to the Border quite a few times in December. We had a delicious salmon dinner while we were out there--one of the best dinners we've had at the Border. So it won't be a hardship for any of us to go back!