Trains!

...Yes, it was eventually going to happen. The boys were packed with Dad and Grandpa (and lots of sun-screen) and we'all headed West to Golden! Both of the boys were very sleepy in the car and didn't awake until we actually got inside to the parking lot. The photo below is one of the first things they saw. Blanden said, "Yeah! We're at the Train Museum!" From then, the day was off and running...

Entrance to the Colorado Railroad Museum. In the not so distant past, this was a functional train stop used to control traffic to- and fro- Denver. Today, it's primary purpose is to separate cash from the pockets of parents. Inside is a gift shop loaded with tons of "Thomas the Tank Engine" paraphernalia and assorted other train-related articles of various worth and utility. 



The first stop on our tour was the large, black train located just past the entrance. The particular attraction of this train is that it has functional bell! Every child (and adult for that matter) must climb onto this train and display their musical skills. What Blanden and Ellis's Dad lacks in musical talents he surely makes up in sheer determination and reckless abandon. ;-)

(Photo Courtesy of Grandpa)





The boys with Grandpa...notice the T-Shirts and Shorts on this First Day of April. It was in the mid-80s on this Sunday. A couple of days later, Denverites were back to scrapping a few inches inches of snow off the windsheilds of their cars.

This photo was taken just outside the shed that houses a massive (and still operational) turntable. I like to tell Blanden that this is the "Tidmouth Sheds of Colorado".

I really like this picture of Blanden. It is obvious that B is quite at ease in this environment. It seems that he spends a lot of time touching and climbing onto these enormous iron beasts to perhaps gain an appreciation of their scale. It's easy to forgot the size of trains when watching them on television or seeing them outside a car window. It's best to get upfront and personal with these wonders of the Industrial Age!



This shot is all about SCALE. Look at Blanden and his newly acquired girlfriend against the backdrop of this snow plow. I played with the exposure to give this photo an "other worldliness" feel about it. I wanted to seem as if they were on some distant planet. Yep...Dad is a Dork!



The Wensuc Family plans to have a collective celebration of Jeremy's, Gretchen's, and Uncle Nick's birthdays this upcoming weekend. However, today is Jeremy's official Birthday (...and No, it's not a April Fool's Day joke). Blanden and Ellis wanted to give Jeremy and Gretchen balloons so that they would have something special on their actual birthdays. This is clearly an instance where it's the thought that matters. When you're 14 and 11 years old, the luster of a balloon has lost a bit of its shine. But when you're and 1 and 3 years old, there is absolutely nothing more special than to get "balloons and ice cream" on your birthday. Blanden and Ellis saw to it that their Cousins got the best birthday possible according to their own understanding. May each of us be so giving of our affections.