Crossing Gates

My grandson is a crack up.  He just loves crossing gates for trains.  He loves the flashing red lights and the ding, ding, ding as the big gate comes down. He loves that all the cars have to stop and let the train go by.  He has discovered that he can watch all the crossing gates he wants on You Tube and he will sit mesmerized for hours, if I let him, watching video after video of crossing gates.  When we drive in town and he hears the train he wants me to immediately drive over to the nearest crossing gate.  Of course, I can't always do that.  So today for a fun outing we went to the train depot to watch the trains. They were parked and not moving so we went over to the crossing gate and I got a picture of him standing beside it.  This one is on State Street right by the Alamosa Train Depot. 

Next week , when my daughter and granddaughters get here I am taking them on a short train ride to Monte Vista.  It costs $10.00 each and they stop by the park where there is a Burger Shack.  We will have lunch and lounge around in the park until the train is ready to head back to Alamosa.  It takes about half a day for the whole outing.  Sebby is so excited and can hardly wait for Abby to get here so we can "Ride the Rails!"

Cheap Smiles

One of the cheapest ways to get a smile out of my grandkids is to get them a musical card.  They have such cute ones these days.  They even have ones you can record your own voice on and sing their favorite song.  There are card with their favorite Sabbath School song on them like, "This Little Light of Mine".  I also have one with "Your Are My Sunshine." My boys have been amused for hours, months, and one even lasted a year.  They just loved those cards and I loved seeing the smiles when they open and close, open and close.  So why get other toys when you can just get a musical card.