A Milestone!

I've mentioned that there is a beautiful park nearby that the kids go bananas for, and where I do most of my portrait photo shoots. We all love that place! One feature of the park is that it is encircled by train tracks. And there is, in fact, a train that does the loop. It doesn't run all the time, though-- usually just on Saturdays and special occasions (like the Fourth of July, when it will be packed to the gills with kids).

We went to the park this afternoon, since they have recently started hosting a Wednesday-afternoon Farmer's Market (in addition to their Saturday morning one). The plan was to walk around the market, see if we "needed" anything, then let the kids roam around the park for a bit. But, surprisingly, the train was running! I guess they are running it during the Wednesday Farmer's Market for the duration of the summer, which is good to know!

Well... Nikos loves trains, but has always chickened out when faced with the prospect of actually getting on this one. He gets SO scared! But the park was pretty empty today and, in a moment of sheer bravery that completely shocked me, Nikos said he thought he'd like to ride the train.

After I picked my jaw back off the ground, I high-tailed it into the depot, forked over my $2.50 ($1.50 for me and $.50 for each kid), and we hopped on. We had the entire car to ourselves... Actually, we had the entire TRAIN to ourselves until the last minute, when another family got onto the other passenger car. And off we went! Maya (AKA Miss Independent) was giggling and smiling from the start, but Nikos clung to my side for a minute... And then he started laughing and smiling and didn't stop until the ride was over! He did it! HE RODE THE TRAIN! And I happened to have my crummy camera in my purse, thank goodness. Never leave home without a camera!

Anyway, I was so proud of him. Maya, too, for being so well-behaved... but it was a huge accomplishment for our very cautious boy. And he has since told every person he has seen all about it, haha!