One of our family Christmas traditions is to go see “The Polar Express” at the Fort Worth Science and History Museum. They have “Polar PJ Parties” and encourage everyone to attend in PJ’s. If you get there early they have activities for the children to do and hot cocoa for everyone. Dynamo the museum mascot is always there in his PJ’s too.
Amelie waved at Dynamo, but was having no part of a photo.
During the movie they hung this mural up on the wall so the kids could see it when they came out at the end.
They made snowflakes out of coffee filters, felt the stuff inside disposable diapers heat up and expand, and made bracelets. It’s always a fun time!
Last weekend Mike took Nadia on a Daddy/Daughter adventure (separate blog post coming) and so Amelie and I had some Mommy/Daughter time. I thought we could make a Gingerbread Train since she loves them so much. I also knew that she would enjoy getting to do something on her own.
She was really funny wanting me to squirt icing here and there and she kept whispering to herself, “Dis candy not for eating… only for train. Dis candy not for eating… only for train.” She also hates her hand getting dirty, so each time she put a piece of candy on she would say, “Oh no! Icing!” So I gave her a wet washcloth to wipe her fingers on and then she started trying to negotiate with me, “Why not me lick my hands mama? I just lick them. It’s nummy in my tummy.”
Once we finished she was so proud and she looks at it every day and says, “I like my choo choo train. So pretty.”
So Mike was telling Nadia about a science experiment from junior high and she was all excited to try one of her own. Mike did a little research to see how to attempt it at home and they set everything up. First they had to pick a leaf and Nadia chose one from our Texas Red Oak. The goal here was to remove the green (chlorophyll) from the leaf to show it’s true color before photosynthesis occurs.
Required supplies: leaf, rubbing alcohol, glass, pot to heat the water in.
Nadia putting water in the pot.
Nadia putting alcohol in the glass.
The leaf in the boiling water.
Putting the leaf in the alcohol.
Once the leaf was in the glass, she put the glass back into the pot of hot water. She should have seen results in just a few minutes.
And guess what? It didn’t work. After some more reading Mike found that this experiment really works better on something like a spinach leaf, not a thick and hearty Texas Red Oak. It was a delight for me to watch Nadia have so much fun with Mike while attempting this. We will try again and report back.
We have had a gift certificate for the Grapevine Vintage Railroad since the spring and finally got around to using it earlier this month. After talking to the woman at the depot we decided to upgrade to first class so that we could have padded seats and be in the enclosed area. This area ended up being way less crowded and we had room to spread out.
Nadia’s favorite part of the train was the bathroom in the train-car. It was really tiny and had a pump toilet. She got the biggest kick out of pumping the handle and watching the blue water swirl around and down. She told me that would be so fun if we had one at home, but I let her know that would get old REALLY fast and she just laughed.
This guy was such a character! He was a wealth of movie trivia questions.
The ride from Grapevine to the Stockyards takes about 90 minutes since the train goes about 16-18 MPH. Once arriving there we entered “tourist mode.” We wandered around taking photos, had lunch and bought some delicious salt water taffy.
We spent about 2 hours at the Stockyards having a great time and the weather was perfect! We returned to the train at the required time and once on the train we found out that the engine had broken down. They tried to fix it, but had to get another engine from the train lot. So we ended up waiting on the train for another hour before leaving the Stockyards. Because of the wait, the attendants came around with free water and sodas for everyone. Once we finally got moving again Amelie was at her breaking point since she ended up skipping her nap – whew she was exhausted and ignoring almost everything we said. The train went a little way down the track and then we had to stop to let an Amtrak train pass at a crossing. It was then that we learned the order of priority for train crossings – military, Amtrak, freight, and leisure.
After our lesson on trains, it was fun that the attendants came by again with free snacks and candy for everyone. By the time we got back to Grapevine is was dark and close to bedtime and we were feeling that it was worth every penny to upgrade to first class – those padded seats paid off.
This was a really fun family day and I highly recommend it to all the locals who live around here, it’s just another thing that makes the Fort Worth area great!
