all aboard the choo choo train

when i got home from the coaster run, i found everyone at home still asleep.  that time change really screwed them up, man.  and we had a pretty small window of time before we needed to be ready to head out to travel town for a birthday party.  i ended up having to wake the bean up from a sound sleep...at 9:30.  even without the time change, that was really sleeping in for her.

we arrived at travel town not too long after the party start time, and found the birthday boy and his parents at the green train car.  i didn't know that parties could be held in there, and it was really cute inside - and air conditioned, which was lovely since it was a sunny, warm soCA day.

the party favors were beyond adorable.

we headed outside to do some exploring.

the highlight of any visit to travel town is always a ride on the train.

although i'd gotten these on christmas from the teen, this was the first time i'd busted out my fun new black glitter kate spade keds kicks.

until she pointed it out to us, the teen and i were a little confused when the bean piped up with a question:  "hey, what does 'do not hump' mean?"  uh...

and even after we'd seen it for ourselves, we had no idea what it meant.  haha!  oh well.

in the tiny gift shop, there were lots of train-themed goodies.  i kinda wish i had an excuse to buy this set:

and i always enjoy flipping through these books.

after hanging out with the monkey and trish and their respective offspring (who are just so damn cute and growing up so fast), enjoying some pizza and singing the birthday song, we decided to head out.  the teen was super excited to receive a favor - "i never get any of the goody bags!" she said.

and on the way home, she let me try it all on.

good times.

trains, planes and automobiles

after a lot of calendar coordinating and a couple of reschedules, the bean and i were happy to join lilcee, mini cee, dailygluttony and mini DG for a fun playdate at travel town near griffith park.  i knew that the hub and brother wan had been here many times when they were little, but i'd never been and i was excited to take the bean to hang out with our friends.

travel town is a park and museum dedicated to preserving the railroad history in the l.a. area, and there are lots of trains to play in and around.  even better?  it's free!  well, there's a cute little train ride available that loops around the park twice, with tickets a whopping $2.50 per person.  sweet! 

it was fun to watch the kids greet each other, as we moms whipped out our phones and snapped away.

although the bean came prepared and turned it around on me at least once.

but i ended up packing it away into my backpack as they got down to the business of exploring the trains.

here, she's pretending that the train is a plane and she's the pilot, giving the announcements over the loudspeaker.  kids, man.

mini DG is an old pro at travel town and led us into the children's corner.

we'd gotten there right as the park opened, so it wasn't too crowded - yet.

we all peeked into a room where a local model train club was working on setting up a new display.

as they lost interest and ran outside, the bean found something to check out.

except that that wasn't really meant for anyone to ride - some park employee had probably gone to answer nature's call or something and i ushered the bean off of the thing before we were discovered.  after taking that picture first, of course.  come on now.

we chased after them around the trains one more time before deciding it was time to take that spin around the park.

this face is hilarious.

"look!  it's the pink train again, mommy - your favorite color!" indeed.

we watched families set up for fun birthday parties in the reserved areas.

and after the ride we made one last stop in the children's corner, where we found quite a few more people crowded around the train table.

after tossing around a few different ideas for lunch, the thought of delicious grub from porto's bakery lured us to glendale.

medianoche sandwich for me, turkey croissant for the bean (who was rather tired of taking pictures by then).

a fantastic time, as always.  we'd joked as we watched them race around that it would make for a pretty great afternoon nap, and sure enough...the bean passed out cold on the way home. 

most excellent.