Saturday Afternoon Stroll

The Carriage Trail in Charleston, WV is so pretty in the fall. It's great for an afternoon stroll which is exactly what we did two Saturdays ago. We wanted to enjoy the outdoors while there were still leaves on the trees. Good thing...they are all gone now :(

 I promise, I did not tell them to do this. But, cute right?

 Great parental supervision. Glad they didn't fall in the creek.

 A boy and his stick. Every. Where. We. Go.

 We found some really large leaves.

 My pretty little city.

 Blurry, but I love his joy! He chased me down the entire trail at full speed. This kid has some major endurance, people.

 They had to catch up.

 We got a bonus in addition to the beautiful leaves and endless amount of sticks for the boys (a must for a successful walk in their opinion). We got to see a train! Up close and personal is an understatement for how near we were to this roaring diesel engine (according to Parker) and coal cars.  I mean, the boys were in heaven.

 

 When we heard the train coming, they got as close to the fence as possible. And yes, Graham's bibs often become superhero capes.

 The next few shots tell quite a story of my boys personalities. The train was about 4-5 feet away. And loud. Very loud.

 Notice which child is backing up and which is holding the fence in a death grip.

 Parker finally turned and ran. The noise and wind from the train were pretty startling. He loved seeing it go by, but from a safe distance.

 Graham, however, held his place. We weren't sure if he truly wasn't scared or if he was in shock, so David decided to grab him.

 Nope, not a single tear. He was in amazement.

 You can just see him trying to process what he was watching.

 They were bummed when the end came and kept asking for another like I had some power to just make them appear.

 David videoed the experience and the boys watched it over and over again.

What a great (cheap) Saturday afternoon! If you don't understand what the big deal is about modes of transit (buses, big trucks, planes, trains, etc), then my guess is that you've never had a little boy. I never had to introduce or emphasize this passion of theirs, it simply just came about. I didn't think I'd allow myself to be such a cliche mom, but we all know things change when you actually become a parent, right? I proudly digress. Bring on the transportation. We are planning a real train ride with the boys for the spring. Can't wait!