Later in the evening we went to ride the Polar Express in Grapevine! Originally the boys were dressed up to see Santa at Bass Pro before we went to the train but after waiting in line about 15 minutes, I was approached by an elf that said I wasn't allowed to be in line that I had to go pick up a ticket to be in line. The next available time frame was 7:30 (it was just now 5:20). So, they lost our business and we headed to the Grapevine Railroad to catch the train! :)
First you start out in a tent and they do a little pre-show song selection... have some "local celebrity kid" (that means a girl that was on Barney as a child) sing songs like Rudolph and such... all the kids sing Jingle Bells, that sort of thing. Then you get lined up and board the train. It's neat to ride the train but once it goes a little fast, Josh is concerned about how much it sways. Frankly, so was I. ha ha!
A little further down the track, a conductor makes his way through the cars punching everyone's ticket. Josh is expecting him to be like Tom Hanks in The Polar Express and punch out a word in everyone's ticket. When the conductor hands Josh back his ticket and he's just punched 3 random holes in it... he says, "he punched three holes? Three holes? What's that?" I wanted to laugh but I just explained to him that this experience is more for the little kids that just believe with all their heart because they're just along to have fun and not question everything.
Then a little further down the track, Santa makes his way through the train cars greeting every child on board. Josh's only point in life at that purpose was to know whether or not it was the REAL Santa. His obsession with it has started to annoy me.... instead of just having fun he has to question everything. He boards our car and Josh immediately turns to me and says very "I told ya so-ish", "He's a fake." And just turns around and sits down. HOWEVER, I will say, that I'm proud that he's taking it upon himself to question everything... because I don't want him to believe something just because people say so... SO, this, for me, will be the last Christmas with Santa. Next year before the time comes, I will take Josh out on a date and let him in on a secret since he'll be TEN by then (YIKES - - in double digits!) and let him know about Santa... about how St. Nicholas WAS real... and how the spirit is kept alive in the spirit of him and in how Jesus loves us and gave EVERYTHING for us... not just "toys"... And, I'll tell him how as long as he continues to help spread that Christmas / Santa spirit.... "Santa" will continue to visit him too. :) And then I'll let him help me shop for Drew's Santa gifts... and we can play Santa to a less fortunate family. I think by giving him a project, letting him on a "grown up" secret... I think all those things combined will not leave him feeling crushed at the truth. He'll probably say "I TOLD YA SO" or something like that but I'd hate for him to find out from a friend and then be upset. So, for me, ten, is time. :( He's not a little boy anymore. It seems like just yesterday he was flying down the stairs screaming "HE CAME HE CAME HE CAME!!!" and I was thrilled to get that on video. THRILLED. Those little memories I'll have to hold onto forever. As they get bigger... you get to look forward to what will be and live for today but hold onto tomorrow.
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