All Aboard!

"All aboard," the conductor cried out.  I ran up to him. 

"Well," he said, "are you coming?"  

"Where?" I asked.

"Why, to the North Pole of course," was his answer.  "This is the Polar Express."

Every December we make the trip to the North Pole, but this year our journey was made even more magical thanks to a gift from The Angus Barn.  They gave us the life-size wooden train that they have used for many seasons as part of their Christmas decorations.  It was the perfect addition to our Storytime Room along with some snowflakes and Christmas trees and a few snow-capped mountains. The magic was real!

The captivating story begins on Christmas Eve.  A skeptical young boys lies in bed waiting to hear the sound of Santa's sleigh after being told that Santa isn't real. He needs proof that his friend is wrong. Instead of sleigh bells, he hears train whistles as an old-fashioned locomotive, The Polar Express, pulls up in front of his house.  The boy hops on board and rides to the North Pole with other pajama-clad children, visits with Santa Claus in person and is chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas.  

Knowing that he can have anything imaginable, the boy chooses one silver bell from Santa's sleigh. Santa cuts a bell from a reindeer's harness and the delighted boy tucks it into the pocket of his bathrobe as the clock strikes midnight and the sleigh climbs into the air and disappears. Santa is off to work and the children get back on the Polar Express.

Back on the train, the boy realizes that the bell has fallen through a hole in the pocket of his robe. Heartbroken, he is returned home. "Merry Christmas!" shouts the conductor as the Polar Express lets out a loud blast from its whistle and speeds away.

In the morning, the boy and his sister discover a box under the tree with his name on it.  Inside is the silver bell!  The note says:

"Found this on the seat of my sleigh.  Fix that hole in your pocket" Signed, "Mr. C."

The boy and his sister are enchanted by the sweet sound of the bell, but their parents can't hear it. One year his sister can no longer hear it.  But even after many years, the bell still rings for the boy as it does for all who truly believe.  Do you believe?

We do!

After we opened a special gift from the North Pole - a silver bell for each child! - and took a quick trip into the Polar Express for a few photos, it was off to the kitchen for our last stop of the day for some hot, hot, hot, Hot Chocolate.  Yum!!

See you next year, Polar Express.  It was fun riding on you to the North Pole!