Thank you, Canada!!

If, in the world we live in, little boys loving trains was an Olympic event, our Warren would be a gold medal winner. He is CRAZY about trains. He's loved Thomas Train since he was a baby -- and since he was two years old, his favorite activity has been BUILDING A TRAIN TRACK all over the floor of his own living room, or my living room, or down any hallway -- under furniture, around dog beds...sometimes with bridges, other times, he creates a big curve in his track.

Every-other-year, the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train comes through Davenport, Iowa on it's United States tour. This year, the train was scheduled to be in Davenport at 12:30 PM, Saturday, December 3.  That morning, I'd taken both kids to the Eldridge, Iowa Methodist Children's shopping event -- and they were JAMMED with people...so I was afraid we'd miss the train.

Warren had no idea what I was really talking about -- but Lilly had watched the video, and she was soo excited for him. We had to pick up a McDonald's lunch to eat in the car...because we were running so late!!

But, as it turned out, the train stops so their entertainers can give a concert...so by the time we arrived, the train was parked, and the kids could walk around and actually TOUCH IT.

Santa and his Mrs. were there, too -- handing out candy canes...

Warren and Lilly touched every single car.

Warren was deliriously happy.

He tried to climb up on every car.

The Canadian Pacific employees were very patient with all the tiny train buffs...

One of them took this picture of the three of us...

The red locomotive was AWESOME...and Warren was sad when they tooted the horn, signaling their intent to leave.

The thing about trains is that THEY ACTUALLY ARE ON A TRAIN SCHEDULE!! And there were about a thousand people stop Clinton, Iowa, waiting for the 4:15 PM stop.  Then, up in McGregor, Iowa, there would be another audience for their last stop of the night -- at 7:00 PM.

We left before the train got underway -- and we got ahead of them in time to take some pictures from a parking lot..

That's when I decided we should  FOLLOW THE TRAIN all the way up to Clinton.

Lilly thought it was a great idea.  This is her first selfie of the day..

Highway #67 runs parallel to the tracks for miles.

Lilly got some amazing pictures.

At this point, we'd pulled off the road and we were waiting for the train to pass RIGHT IN FRONT OF US...

Sometimes, you could barely see the train (but you can see Lilly in the mirror).

It was nearly dark, and the lights were beginning to show up more.

We leap-frogged the train for over an hour as it chugged north to Clinton...and we pulled off the road 11 times to watch it pass and take pictures.

As it parked on the siding in Clinton, the lights were beautiful...

But by that time, he'd had enough excitement....

THANK YOU, CANADA. Well done!!