There are so many different ways to indulge children at this time of year. There is the Nutcracker at the Flynn, a play about toys coming to life at UVM, the Polar Express and more. None of these events are free, so I asked the kids which special treat they would like this year. Cal got to go on the Polar Express last year at the last minute, so I thought she'd rather go to the Nutcracker and figured John and Hazen could go do the Polar Express.
However, Cal wanted nothing to do with doing something without Hazen. She insisted that whatever they do, they do it together. And you guessed it, Hazen really wanted to do the Polar Express.
Getting tickets to the Burlington Polar Express is next to impossible. You either have to volunteer as an elf a year in advance or enter a lottery which involves sitting online at exactly 4pm on an afternoon in October only to find that the website crashed and only the luckiest actually get the golden tickets.
We had heard there was a Polar Express in White River Junction-- an hour and a half drive away. They aren't giving these tickets away, but you can buy tickets less that a few weeks in advance.
So we went for it. John thought I was insane and said there would be no way he'd spend a day driving a car to go on a train.
It was a haul..... but it was so, so sweet to see how happy the kids were to be on the adventure:
It really was a magical experience. The kids drank hot cocoa, ate cookies, hugged Santa, and got a bell. Sure, there are a lot of other more productive ways I could have spent my day, but seeing the joy and wonder in the kids was more than worth it. And John even admitted he was sad he didn't get to come.
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