The Polar Express Rail Runner Ride

Jack and I rode the Rail Runner for the first time today. We went with our playgroup on a Polar Express themed ride. The kids wore pajamas, drank cocoa and ate cookies, heard the story, and got a bell. Another mom in the group planned the event. Sadly, her daughter was sick so she wasn't able to come!
We got on the train at Bernalillo and rode north for about 35 minutes. That stop was in the southern part of Santa Fe, not where you would get off to do touristy things (time did not allow us to ride that far). We did all the organized activities on the first leg of the trip. Then on the way back, everyone ate the lunch they had packed.

Here Jack is helping me carry the picnic lunch and the thermos of cocoa. He was a little down when we first arrived because we had a hot chocolate disaster in the car on the way. We stopped at Starbucks and Kelly helped us out with cups and lids and napkins, and hot water for our cocoa. Unfortunately, the thermos I brought (just purchased yesterday) was not really for hot drinks. The steam caused the lid to pop off and about a half gallon of cocoa wound up on the floor of the passenger side of my car. Luckily, it was cocoa made with water and not milk, so it actually smells kind of good instead of nasty and sour. The floor mat soaked a lot of it up. A few of my books on tape were seriously damaged in the incident, but luckily nothing too important. Anyway, we had enough time to go back to Starbucks, where we got a bit of a refill, and there was still plenty of cocoa for all the kids (just not the moms too).

Jack's buddy from KidZone. He says they are "best friends."

Here with a couple of buddies. They were the big boys on the trip.