The Heber Creeper!

This is the first full day we had in Utah. My mom works with a woman who is married to a man who works for the Heber Valley Railroad. ( I actually thought the name was the Heber Creeper. Ha.) He was kind enough to procure us some free passes. Thanks person I don't know! So while Clayton went to lunch with his mom, my mother took me, Eleanor, my SIL Jenni and her daughters Megan and Allie (of the wardrobe fame) and my other niece Abby up to Heber for a day full of trains. Woo woo! (That's the sound of excitement AND a train. Twoofer!)

Here we are getting ready to board!

Eleanor, Abigail, Allie and Megan

My mom and Eleanor, could they be any cuter?
No- the answer to that is no.

Allie and Eleanor. My mom bought them little "train"
initials to play with.

Eleanor looooved being with her big cousin Allie.

And she looooved to look out the windows along the way.

Oh no! Bandits! Seriously folks, I know this is normally an expensive excursion, but you really get your money's worth. In our case we REALLY got our (invisible) money's worth. Thanks again strange guy whose wife works with my mom.

Stick 'em up! Apparently Megan is too savvy to be robbed.

Allie was concerned the whole time.

Once you hit the end of the line, they disconnect the engine and transfer it to the back to change directions. We went to an open air car to watch the action.

"Why hello, worried mother!" Even though this is my favorite picture from the day, we spent most of the ride indoors for peace of mind.

Grandma and Eleanor getting the wiggles out.

Abby was my MVP on the train. She is great with Eleanor and this picture was taken right before Eleanor tried to scurry out of that open window. Abby held her back like an old pro.
Thanks Abby for saving her little bunners.

Here they are back at the train yard.

After a quick stop to the Homestead to pick up fudge, we ate at the Train Burger, uh, place. I can't remember the name. But dang good burgers and the good ice. That's important people. If you're in Heber I suggest you make a stop for the orange twirl cone at least.

The girls taking a moment to relive the good times we had on the train.

Heber Creeper Videos!

Here are a few snippets of our day on the train. Eleanor quickly learned to make the pull-cord motion when the train whistles blew. It was funny as she did it for every single honk after she learned. What can we say? She's freaking awesome.





This second video cracks me up. It's Allie trying to plan a game of musical chairs when we get back, but I really just like the interaction between the two little cousins. Allie saying "Yep." to Eleanor when she is jabbering on about something. I also love that Eleanor hears the horn as she is getting up, stops to make the woo-woo motion and then finishes getting up and then makes it once more for good measure.





This last video is of the engine pulling around to bring the train back to Heber. Again, just cute kids doing their thing. Love it.

Beautiful Eleanor

My neighbor Lexie is amazing. She did these pictures of Eleanor a few weeks ago and I am over the moon about them. I have a gazillion posts to do in the next week or so about our trip to Utah and family reunion, but I wanted to put this up first. I love it so much! Thanks Lexie!

Tunnel Beach and Mooville

We finally had the opportunity to go to Lake Michigan! We went with our neighbors, the Phillips to Tunnel Beach in the town of Holland. It is breathtakingly beautiful. There is a large rise of sand that runs along the shore that you have to climb over to get to the beach. I recommend you do this for the astounding view at the top. (There are stairs.) You can also take the tunnel (thus the name) that runs through the dune for an easier go of it. It's a fairly empty beach and it's gorgeous, you can see up and down the shore for miles. The water is shallow for ages, you can walk out quite a ways without it going past your knees and the lake-bed is really smooth. It's nice to know that your kids can venture as far as they please without worrying about drop offs. Also the sand is super clean and even squeaks when you run your hands through it. This is why. Fancy sand and brochure talk aside, Eleanor love, love, loved our day at the beach. She has always been a water baby and I feel downright negligent for not taking her swimming more often.

Oh, and her swimsuit. I mean come on!

Starting out carefully with dad.

Enjoying it with mom.And loving the raft float that the Phillips brought. Pictured here with Nora and Clayton. The water was pleasantly cool, but Eleanor would never get out if we didn't intervene. She would fuss and protest with her blue and shivering lips.

Pouting on the sand.

Eating ALL kinds of sand covered snacks. That's good on her baby teeth, right?

Back in the water with dad.Family pictures!

After the beach we stopped for Wendy's before heading on to Mooville. On the way I spotted one of the three Latinos in Michigan. Driving the sweetest ride I have seen in ages. (Don't zoom in on the tail gate. It's rated PG18.)

Ok, so Mooville is this charming dairy in Nashville/Charlotte that has a free petting zoo outside. It's just amazing. We all got ice cream cones and went out to enjoy the setting sun and the baby animals. Here are Eleanor and Sophie with the goats.

And the little calf. So cute.

And the ice cream! Boy, did she sleep like a rock that night. My camera battery died or I would have seventy million more pictures of Eleanor gazing at animals. I do have a few videos I will try to put in another post. So cute!