All Aboard...the Tweetsie Railroad!!

What a great day we had today! Originally Alan wanted to take our family camping this weekend since he had an extra day off of work. But to tell the truth, between going out of town several times over the past couple of months, planning a birthday party, reinfesting myself with poison ivy, and just generally absorbing stress with the end of school, I really didn't want to be gone all weekend. Frankly, I just need some down time right now. However, a day away for some wild west fun is always acceptable. We took the boys to Tweetsie one time before when Michael was still an infant for "Day Out With Thomas". Let me tell you, it's much more enjoyable when you aren't being pressed against the hordes of cranky children and their grumpier parents (probably including myself) just to see a blue engine pull a train.

We got there in time for an early lunch, and rather than buy over-priced icky park food, we chose to go to an old college (go ASU!!) favorite: Makotos. They have rebuilt this restaurant since Alan and I were in college, and I'm sure the new version has come up several grades in the hygiene department. In the picture above, Matthew and Alan are having a discussion about Moby Dick while they wait for the chef to arrive to cook the food. You think I'm kidding, don't you?
Michael was very intrigued with his "sipping soup" since Mommy generally doesn't allow him to drink from a bowl like this at home. Is Mommy a stick in the mud or what? He and I were busily discussing the relative merits of floating fungus (i.e. the mushroom in the broth).

This picture really, really cracks me up. Michael had just opened his (chocolate - who knew they made these??) fortune cookie. I read his fortune to him: You will have a promising career in medical research. Clearly, this thought is just too overwhelming for him to consider at this point. As long as he can financially support his Mommy's Cheez Doodle addiction when she's in the old folks home, I don't care what he does.

The first thing we did after we got into the park was hop on the train. Now, I do not remember these wild west drama scenes quite the way they occur now. Evidently it's almost always a different story with every train ride, and Alan and I surmised that there must also be quite a bit of ad-libbing going on. On occasion, it's the marshall and his deputy and the indians against the bank robbers/train rustlers. Funny how the indians look much more like caucasion college students than I remember. Of course, the boys didn't notice this at all. See that watch on Matthew's arm? My dad gave it to him the other day, and when we're all together, Matthew tells us the time every few minutes. He's like a cuckoo clock. And it's driving his mother cuckoo.

We also spent some time at Miner's Mountain enjoying a train ride through the mouse cheese mine (black lights! groovy!), feeding the animals in the petting zoo (Michael still terrified of Emus after last spring's event), and riding the skylift. Revelation for the gem mining: our kids liked this "free" version as much as the $8 bucket version. Matthew actually did find some fool's gold.

We watched a show, too, called "Diamond Lil's Can-Can Review". The girls (surely college students) were adorable, and it was a nice break for us to eat our yumm-o treats from the "Tweetsie Fudge Works". After I was thoroughly stuffed with a peanut cluster - wow - we rode the ferris wheel. Now, the older I get, the less I can tolerate any spinning ride. I can't even watch them go. Fortunately the FW is still a winner with me. Matthew was s*c*a*r*e*d but tried to play it cool. He did insist that I keep my arm around him. Think he'll still do that when he's 13??

After one last repeat trip on the train, I offically arrested my boys and threw them in the slammer.

I think we're all pretty tired - as evidenced by Matthew's 30-minute crying spell upon having to reimburse us from his misered fortune for the bow and arrow he chose - but it was such a good family time together. I'm very thankful for these sweet memories.