Christmas choo-choos and fishies

We love Ella's Deli. I went there when I was a kid, but didn't remember it until I saw it after we moved here. Its always busy and loud and fun. We've taken Allie there a few times and she's enjoyed it, but nothing like today. As she's getting older she's gaining so much awareness of whats going on around her.

There was a lot to look at from our table. Allie really liked Spiderman. But near Spiderman was also a basketball guy and the Beatles as the Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, complete with a yellow submarine. I didn't get a picture of that, unfortunately.

 On the other side of our table was a circus train and Superman underneath.

So there was a lot to look at, and it really surprised us that Allie actually ate well! Its always a nice surprise when she eats well. Before we ate, Allie studied the dessert menu. But we ultimately decided against dessert.

After lunch we were on to the main attraction of our afternoon: Olbrich's Holiday Express! Its their annual flower and model train show. Its one of those events that we hear about every year and want to check out, but still haven't, until today. We're really trying to get into the Christmas spirit this year and exposing Allie to a lot of new experiences.

I'm not really sure what I expected, but when we walked in, it seemed a little underwelming. But then I realized all the detail and all the work! But the real treat was Allie's reaction!

She LOVED watching the trains go round and round. there were two big tracks set up. One had two trains and the other had three.

There was only one running at a time on each track, but they switched a lot. Allie was absolutely DELIGHTED!

She was shrieking and shouting and giggling and jumping around the whole time. I think she would have stayed there all day if we had let her.

We really were surprised at Allie's reaction to the trains. She also liked looking at the poinsettias and the lights on the trees.

Our admission to the holiday express also included admission to the conservatory, so after we looked at the trains for awhile, we went to check out the conservatory. This was another big hit with Allie, though she seemed a little scared at first.

Her favorite things were the two waterfalls and the pond with the fish. She kept going back to the bridges and looking at the fish. This was another place she would have stayed all day!

The exhibit in the conservatory right now is treasures of the rainforest. We've only been in the conservatory once before, for the blooming butterflies exhibit almost five years ago soon after we moved here. It was when we went to that exhibit that we decided we wanted to have our wedding at the botanical gardens. Anyway, the blooming butterflies is a special exhibit and I didn't realize they change other exhibits too. This one goes til March so we'll have to check it out after March.

We went up to the second "floor" and saw the top of the rainforest. That was pretty neat. Allie liked looking up at the birds.

It was a lot of fun to walk around and see the cool plants. They had objects on display near some of the plants showing the products that come from the rainforest. That was pretty interesting.

We finished our afternoon with some cookies in the car on the way home. Allie took a nice long nap and Mama did the grocery shopping. This was a great family activity for a rainy Saturday and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit!