Trains Archives - Simply Happenstance

:: Happy Birthday ::

Happy Birthday to Mason! I can’t believe he is lucky #7! How can that be?!? I know as kids we were told by our parents that time really does fly once you have children….and they are so very right! Mason entered this lovely world on a hot November day. The year he was born was one of the hottest summers that we had here in Southern California. Yes, I know I was pregnant and most women claim that the year they were pregnant was super hot, but it truly was {I have a list of friends that can attest to this, wink}. I remember having to leave the hospital in shorts, all of which is the last piece of clothing a mother of a fall baby wants to be wearing after having a child. I pray you Mama’s out there never have to experience that. Heat and pregnancy really don’t mix.

I can go on and on about my pregnancy, delivery, etc., but what is most important is what his birth and life have taught me. I do believe I was truly chosen to be Mason’s mama. He has opened my eyes and heart to more life than I have ever expected. You see I think we all have in mind how life will be and how things will go during and after our pregnancy. All of the baby books filled with information on what to do and how to do it all makes it seem as though raising a child can be and will be a text book situation. What I have learned as a mother is that more often than not, raising a child or a baby generally does not follow a guideline or a particular path.

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As many of my friends know,

Mason is obsessed with Trains.

He has been since he was around 1 1/2 and it still is going strong.

He hopes one day to become a train engineer.

For him, he has not been extremely into Thomas,

but the real deal.

When he was younger and he had speech we would sometimes stop

at the San Juan Capistrano train station and watch the trains come in.

He knows which trains are which and much of their history.

Though at times this obsession has been over the top,

{especially when we had a train table}

we will be sad the day he stops enjoying them as much.

For now we embrace it and love them as much as him,

in fact Madeline likes trains too.

Around the holidays, we try to incorporate them into our traditions.

With the events of last week,

it made it hard to get into the spirit, but we mustered the strength to do so for the kids.

We drove up to Roger’s Gardens to view the Christmas tree decorations,

see Santa and most of all see the train display.

It was a brisk day and the train display seemed to fit right into the scenery.

I believe the train was more fun than the viewing of the trees,

as I was a nervous wreck that my kids were going to break a

Christopher Radko ornament and we would have to fork over the $45.00 per each one {yikes}.

Mason and Madeline enjoyed taking a picture with Santa

and being able tell him what is on their Christmas list.

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Kathy with us to capture the moment.

It was a fun experience.

I have wanted to visit with my kids since my newspaper days,

but we finally made it happen, and the kids did GOOD!

Later that day…….

We had our second annual experience of more trains.

We drove down to the train station and watched the

Metrolink Holiday Toy Express 2012.

The train stop benefits one of our favorite holiday charities:

The Spark of Love.

We brought a unwrapped toy and donated it to:

Orange County Fire Authority.

{the actual event is free, but they collect new toys for needy children}

They had two fire trucks parked right up to the train station.

The train rolls into the station completely decorated in lights.

All of Santa’s Reindeer sing all of the kid’s favorite carols,

and of course Santa makes an appearance with Mrs. Clause.

There is a little skit and candy canes and then,

the train goes on its way.

Short but a magical experience for any child that loves trains.

Today, ABC 7 will be collecting for The Spark of Love

at The Honda Center in Anaheim.

The perfect way for us to help those in need 4 days before Christmas,

and you might see some of our firefighter friends collecting toys

with Garth Kemp!