Nikki Katz

Like the previous few years, we headed out to Tucson for Thanksgiving week to spend the holidays with my mom and brother. This year we went out especially early because my mom had bought us all tickets on the Polar Express. It’s a train ride run by the Grand Canyon railway during the holiday months and the girls were very excited to go!

The train ride itself was very cute. The kids all wore their pajamas, just like the movie (in fact many parents on the ride wore their PJs too!) Upon entering the train and sitting down we all were treated to chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate. After traveling through the ‘time warp tunnel’ and reading the Polar Express book, we arrived at the ‘North Pole’. This was not a good North Pole by any standards!! It consisted of a few light displays and Santa waving outside the window! My advice? Use some of that ticket fare to create a somewhat realistic display. Any child over the age of five has to be thinking “there is no way this is the North Pole!”

After a few minutes of kids gaping out the window at the sad display of lights, Santa boarded the train and we began our return trip back. Santa wandered through the cars, stopping to pose for pictures with the children and he gave each child a bell. Those bells were put to good use on the return trip to the station as we all sang Christmas carols. L conked out early and the girls were exhausted by the time we arrived back at the station, but all in all it was lots of fun.

The next morning we took an hour drive north to the rim of the Grand Canyon. This was the first time we had been and it was amazing, majestic, and beautiful. It was also horrifying to attend with small children! There were rails here and there, but a good part of the path was open with sheer cliffs just feet away. K1 listened to us and stayed close, but K2 wanted to skip on the edge of the sidewalk, and L wanted to run around. The best portion of the trip was stopping in the ranger station to view models and a history of the canyon, all while being enclosed in a building from which the kids could not escape! Needless to say, it was a short visit and one I won’t make again with them any time soon.

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