A Train Day

 Somehow, in my photo dump, I didn't include this event. Right next to the flag is Oscar's principal, Ms. Taylor, congratulating Oscar on his Superstar Student award for Immense Improvement.

 Ms. Taylor showed up before the ceremony to greet the parents. She greeted every one of us and said congratulations. (We get a letter a couple weeks before the ceremony so we know to attend.)

 Now, I know that this Superstar Student award thing is a regular thing. I can't suss out if it is monthly or quarterly. But I know this: both my boys have gotten the awards, and the ennui of "everybody gets this award" doesn't seem to be present. Both my boys and their friends have been genuinely thrilled to get this award. And both of their teachers and their principal have been genuinely thrilled to give it to them. 

So, A: Bret Harte is an awesome school that recognizes that kids need constant, yet appropriate approval. B: I actually feel like both my kids' teachers are emotionally involved with their progress. (The school policy of switching teachers around in grade levels might have something to do with this, instead of our previous school's modus operandi: when you want someone to retire, put them in the kindergarten or a lower grade and wait until the challenges force you to retire, and screw the kids that are unlucky enough to be in that classroom. At least, it felt that way when Oscar's whole 2nd grade year was a total loss. At our current school, teachers are moved all over grade levels to keep them fresh, other than the kindergarten teachers. It makes for a very cohesive school and very experienced, creative and loyal teachers.)

Sunday, Oscar and Evan took off for Wondercon. Luckily, Evan didn't need to work the Con, so he was able to explore and see long lost friends. Oscar (on his own account) wanted to wear his Ash costume.

And it was a hit. Evan said they could barely make their ways down the aisles since over and over, people wanted Oscar to pose for pictures. The "First Season Ash" was a huge hit.

Let me say something about cosplay. I minored in costume design in college, and once I started attending comic conventions for my career, I was fascinated by the folks that would show up in costumes. I always wanted to attend to San Diego Comicon Masquerade, but, in my many years of attendance, they have always scheduled the Masquerade during the Eisner Awards, which I need to attend since they are the Oscars of the Comic World. Plus I am an Eisner Award Winner, so I like to attend the awards. (Have I mentioned that I won an Eisner? I have. I'm pretty proud of me.) Someday I want to start making costumes again. I'm trying to convince Lucy to be Wondergirl for Halloween. Maybe a Tiny Titans group costume?

Sooooo, the big guys took off  for Wondercon. The little guys and I had a better destination: 

A birthday party at Travel Town!

Travel Town is this weird LA thing. A bunch of public officials looked at Griffith Park, and thought, let's give a chunk of it to a bunch of guys (and yes, train guys are almost always male) and let them start a train museum. So they did. 

And Lucy's friend, Will, loves trains and has his birthday parties in a caboose at Travel Town. It's almost exactly like the birthday party I would throw for my dad (less adorkable girls encouraging patrons to do parachute games, more persnickety discussions of steam versus diesel.

There is a moderate model train setup. They are in the process of remaking the layout. That evening I remarked to my husband: "Give me three hours with my dad and Arlo at Travel Town, the Steamers, and the Disney Barn, and I could get him to retire here in MINUTES."

 The Goose couldn't care less about trains, but she likes hanging out with her pals.

 Arlo is looking crafty...

 But is trying to lull you into a sense of security.

We had a lovely time at the party. We noshed, we gossiped, we sang. 

As it turned out, it was the third Sunday of the month. Next to Travel Town, there is the Los Angeles Steamers, a small scale train that ropes though the park. We've been on it a couple times, and it really seems like the route depends on the engineer. 

But as it turned out, it was the third Sunday of the month, and that meant that the Disney Shed was open. Walt was a huge train guy, and in the backyard of his Collingwood estate, he had a huge train layout, along with a charming little barn where he did woodworking and tinkering. When the Disney family sold the estate, they donated the barn to Los Angeles and the track to the Steamers. 

 Here's the guys in front of Walt's engine that puttered around his backyard. 

These were the plans for the layout. 

 They had some stuff from Ollie Johnson in there as well.

 Walt's shelf and pole, which he made from a broom handle. I wonder how many heads of corporations can build their own shelves these days? And would use a makeshift pole cut from a broom handle?

 The control panel.

 They had a small coal steam engine that they had hooked up to an ice-cream maker. We just missed out on the ice cream. Next time.

 A short yet harrowing walk on Zoo Drive over to the Steamers.

 Three bucks a ride. Worth every penny.

 Can you believe how happy he is? Wait, it gets better.

 You can't take pictures on the ride, but every time you go, it's different. This is no simple train loop. There are tunnels and trestle bridges and switchers. The engineer seems to make it up as you go along. It's a good 10-15 minutes, which doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're perched on a 10" wide seat, hanging on the two rambunctious kids, it's a loooong ride.

When the ride ended, Arlo asked the engineer if he could take a picture with the train. The engineer grabbed Arlo's hand and plopped him right down in the engineer's seat! While the train was still running! BLISS.

 Lucy was not amused to be in the back.

 She was cheered by pizza. 

And yes, I used my gadget yesterday. I made bread and Evan and I had some lovely toast this morning.

Today is the first day of Spring Break. We are all still in our PJs at 9:30 in the morning. But now it's off to the LA Zoo and the new reptile house, The Lair. Hopefully I'll have pictures tomorrow!