In Honor of my Dad.... Trains, Trains, and more Trains!

This post is a tribute to my sweet Dad and an account of some of Hazel's journeys recently. My Dad has always loved trains. I remember one Saturday when we were kids he loaded us all up in the car and we drove to what seemed like almost the Kansas boarder. We parked by the train tracks and waited, and waited, and waited. Then some special locomotive drove past shaking the ground as it went. After that we packed up and went home. My Dad was thrilled and I remember thinking "that's it?" haha.

Well in the past few months my Dad has taken it upon himself to pass his love of trains on to Hazel (maybe he hopes that by starting early she won't . Pretty much every time they've seen each other in the past month and a half my dad has had a new train to take her to. They have a blast and Hazel loves the trains!

Train Museum:
Their first train excursion was to the train museum one Saturday while Mike and I were at the temple. There was a special full sized steam locomotive that day. They rode on the train then looked around the museum. That's about all I know about that trip except that Hazel came home asking to see "more baby trains" over and over. (The baby trains were the model railroads she saw in the museum after riding the full sized train)

Hazel on the train

Tiny Town Train:
A few weeks later (the day of my test) my parents and Mike took Hazel up to Tiny Town. It's always a blast to go see the tiny houses and ride the train (our trip last year is here). Tiny Town has a 15 gauge steam locomotive (I hope I got that right) which drives you around the town. This was Mike's first time at Tiny Town so he definitely enjoyed the trip.

The "yucky potty" - Hazel's words, not ours haha. This was her first time in an outhouse.

Mike's favorite Tiny Town building.

The train! It's hard to tell from this picture but it really is tiny. Look at the size of the cone compared to the train.

Royal Gorge Train:
For my birthday, my parents drove down to Colorado Springs to make me dinner (which was yummy!) We took a short trip down to Cannon City to ride a train at the Royal Gorge. This train is the same size as the one at Tiny Town but instead of just taking you around in a loop it goes to an overlook of the Royal Gorge. It goes through some beautiful scenery and over some really neat bridges. I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed this train. They even let dogs ride with you:)

Hazel signing train

See Kiara's head in the bottom right? She liked the train.

Royal Gorge

Heritage Square Train:
The most recent train Hazel visited was one at Heritage Square (a small western themed amusement park). It's also a small train (I think the 15 gauge again) that goes in a loop around the park. This train has sentimental value for Mike and I. We had our wedding reception in the Victorian House inside Heritage Square. As part of the reception, Mike and I rode in on the train (guess who worked that part out? my dad of course!) Mike and I were at the temple again while they took this trip so we didn't get to go with Hazel (and I don't have any pictures) but my parents said she had fun.


Needless to say Hazel has become a train expert. She talks about trains, tiny trains (like Tiny Town) and baby trains (model railroads). Some times she will randomly start shouting "All aboard!" She loves riding trains with Grandpa, and he LOVES taking her! I'm sure they will have more train trips before the summer is over.