I was really interested in copying what friends have done last year and this year for Christmas, with surprising kids at bedtime with tickets to board The Polar Express to go see Christmas lights. I told Aaron about it and he also thought it was very clever and fun, so we made plans to do it at the beginning of Christmas week.
That day I sat with the kids to watch the movie. Pizza and popcorn. They really enjoyed it, but the most impressionable part of the movie to them was when the little girl lost her ticket. They were nervous but couldn't stop watching!
That night, we went through the bedtime routine as usual. Bath, pajamas, read, etc. And then when everything was ready, we had them look under their pillows. Tickets to get on the Polar Express train! They were excited but I could tell they didn't know what to think:
Here is the video that shows when we were walking outside to see what the Polar Express was:
(my favorite part is when Vivian says, "Seriously, we're going at bedtime?!")
When I first pitched the idea to Aaron, he mentioned that it would be cool to do it with other people. The first to come to mind was our beloved family! But when you counted everyone up, there was no way to fit everyone in one car. And it wouldn't suit the purpose to split into two cars. So he suggested to rent a limousine (wow!). So I called and reserved it, and it worked out so perfectly. It turned out that "Christmas light tours" were something that they do every night during the holiday season, so they already had a route planned out. Christmas cookies and champagne for the ride. The driver played along and punched our tickets with a hole punch when we got in the car. It couldn't have been better!
Here's our toothless 5-year-old that had just lost her two bottom teeth the week before. Thrilled to be aboard the Polar Express!
Car seats in a limo...hmmmm.
Hank was such a good sport. Even though it was bedtime, he hung with us the whole night and was content for the majority of the trip.
We have our tickets! Since that scene was so memorable for them, they kept asking all night, "does everyone have their ticket? Make sure you haven't lost yours!"
All of the adults were good sports and wore their pajamas :)
The Christmas lights Polar Express was a surprise for them, too. We just told them to be ready at a certain time and that we would come pick them up.
Gramme was coming in from NC that night and met us halfway along the route. Same with Stephen (he was coming in from Richmond).
Vivian has Sprite in that plastic glass, by the way :) But the kids called it, "Panchain" (got champagne mixed up but we went with it).
Olivia also did soooo great. She didn't make a peep...just looked around and enjoyed being held!
Not a great picture of the limo but here's our pajama Christmas crew!
We decided that night to continue the tradition. Hopefully we can surprise the kids again next year.
We decided that night to continue the tradition. Hopefully we can surprise the kids again next year.
