The Train Ride

Nothing seemed like more fun than a free ride on the new Front Runner Train. It makes a round trip from Ogden to Salt Lake with various stops in between. Since it is new they are letting people ride for free. Ann and I couldn't wait to take our kids on the "Choo Choo Train".

Even though it was the last day of April and it wasn't raining it was very cold. This didn't stop the kids excitement as they were about to ride a real train.

While waiting we also got to see a Union Pacific train go right next to us. Ty waved to the freight train the entire time it passed. Aubree and Ty were just excited to be sooo close to a train.

As we boarded we had no idea the amount of people that thought the free train ride was a great idea too. Every seat was taken on the ground floor so we headed for the stairs just to find out all the seats were taken on top too.

Luckily Ann is pregnant and she was holding Paige so someone took pity on us and gave us their seats. At the next stop a few people left we moved to a section that was empty. That meant I only had to hold Syd on my lap and Aubree got her own seat. We were having a great time watching everything go past.

After a few stops we decided it was so close to lunch time so we'd get off and grab the next train heading back. We thought this was a good idea. Just as we got off we were able to board the train back.

As we entered it was obvious this train was even more crowded than the last one. There were no seat available. Someone did move and gave Ann and I two seats. That's when Syd decided to throw the biggest fit of her life. Nothing would calm her down. She just wanted to lay on the floor and scream. I tried to pick her up but that just made her cry harder.

It was the longest ride of my life. Everybody was wondering what was going on. The old ladies on the train just kept giving me this disgusted "can't you stop her" look. I was embarrased and there was nothing I could do but sit and pretend everything was under control.

I am writing this so that I can remember a few things:

*free day is not always the best time for train rides

*don't take your child in public when they are cutting 4 teeth at once

*don't stare at a mother with young kids and think they are a terrible mother when I become the old lady

Of course as soon as we got in the car Sydney was fine. I guess she just wanted to get off the train. I actually missed having a car seat I could strap her in while we were riding. I'm not sure if we'll ever attempt another train ride in the next ten years but it was definitely a ride to remember.