Union Station

A few months ago, Pearl's boyfriend, Benny-boy, started staying home with his Dad. It was a good thing for his family but Pearl was sure sad about it. And so was Cole. Benny-boy's little brother, Alex, was in the infant class with Cole.

Since Cara (Benny-boy's mom) and I thought it important to keep up the courtship despite not seeing each other every single day, we organized a playdate to take the FrontRunner train up to Ogden where we then explored Union Station.

Pearl was thrilled to 1) get out of the house on our Friday off, 2) see her Benny-boy, and 3) ride the train. We had a pretty long ride, one stop short of riding the train the entire length of the tracks. Cole found it interesting for about 10 minutes and then wanted to run around. We met Benny-boy at the Roy stop and then continued on to Ogden. Pearl was beyond excited to see Ben and even Cole and Alex seemed happy to see each other. It's amazing that even at such a young age Cole knows and remembers who his friends are.I so wish I would have stopped talking with Cara to get a picture of Pearl and Ben walking hand-in-hand the entire walk over to Union Station. We actually had to break them up so they'd keep up with us and quit lolly-gagging behind us. We explored all the decommissioned trains next to the station. Pearl was kind of a chicken climbing on them. I guess I can't fault her too much because trains are huge and have some pretty big steps to get up and down them. Plus, they both kept asking if the trains were going to start going and "turn on."Love this shot of Cole running away from me, right in between two huge trains.
Then we explored the train museum inside Union Station. The kids had fun climbing on things, running around, and playing with the switchboard. Pearl was in charge of telling the trains were and when to go. Her imagination never ceases to amaze me and make me smile. Cole was determined to keep up - or outpace - the big kids while Alex was his regular, content self just happy to sit and enjoy things.
This is pathetic to admit, having grown up in Utah my entire life, but I've never been to Promontory Point (Golden Spike National Historic Site). The meeting place of the Union and Pacific Railroads way back in 1869. Nor did I know that the actual "Golden Spike" was housed at Union Station in Ogden, Utah. The safe it was in was a mega safe... I'm betting it would withstand a nuclear winter. Very cool.
What's with boys and rocks? Seriously.The usual attempt to document the fun. I really should learn how to Photoshop my pictures because then I wouldn't have to post three of them just to show you one of us is looking at the camera with a smile in each one.
The ride home wasn't quite as exciting as the ride there because 1) Pearl didn't want to leave Benny-boy, 2) it was fast approaching lunch and nap time, and 3) everyone wanted the same six M&Ms from the trial mix I had brought.