All aboard the Easter Bunny Express! That's what we heard at 11:00am...turns out, it wasn't an "express" after all.
Nana and I got tickets to take Reagan on the Easter Bunny Express awhile back. Jim was still working the Pancake Festival with Rotary, so we decided to just make it a girls day.
My mom picked us up at 8:45 and we got on the road. We were about 10 minutes from getting off the turnpike when Reagan said, "I'm sick". She was acting her usual self all morning, RUNNING through the house and singing, so I knew she wasn't "sick". She was a little quiet after that, but she's usually nice and calm in the car, so I didn't think anything of it. We were on 480 about 15 minutes from the train station when I heard her "cough". I looked back and she had spit up. My first thought was "Oh no, she IS sick", next was, "I don't have any extra clothes to put her in", and finally "she's not going to get to go on the train!"
We remembered there was a Walmart near to where we were, so we thought we would go there and at least get her cleaned up and I could get her something to wear home. We got off the exit and the Walmart was CLOSED, there was no more Walmart. What!?
There was a Giant Eagle in the same plaza, so I asked a lady where I could get some clothes. She said there was a Kmart down the road, so we headed there. Reagan really did seem fine and she was just sitting there talking. We had an hour till the train to make a decision and we were only 10 minutes away. We pulled in the Kmart, I jumped out to get clothes, Lysol and extra wipes, while my mom tended to Reagan. I came back and my mom said, "she's fine"! There was nothing on her, but poor Mr. Fuzzy got it all! Thank goodness for Mr. Fuzzy! She was spared!
My mom said she just held up her little hands that were a bit "messy" and said in a sad voice "I go Easter Bunny Train?" Who could deny that, so we decided we would just go ahead and catch the train since we had driven all that way.
We got to the train station and boarded the train without a problem. The horn blew and we were underway. About five minutes into the ride, a Trainman got on the speaker and started to explain the adventure. He said, "We have about a 45 minute ride down to Peninsula. There, we'll get off the train, board a BUS and head to the lodge for the hunt, and Easter Bunny. The train will be back to pick you up at 3:15. We'll be back to Rockside at 4:00!" UM WHAT!? We're departing at 11:00 and not getting back till 4:00!? The amazement and shock in some parent's faces were PRICELESS!!! We were a little shocked but we had nothing else going on, so we were OK with it. We were really just expecting maybe a 2 hour trip like the Polar Express and the Wine Train but were clearly wrong.
We enjoyed our ride down to Peninsula. It was neat riding in the day, which we had never done. It's a very pretty and scenic ride. Reagan was glued to the window the whole time, looking for deer and birds. We did go through a marsh area and the Trainman pointed out a bald eagle's nest. The eagle happened to be sitting a few trees down. Reagan was fascinated!
We finally got to Peninsula and hopped off the train. The buses weren't there yet so we were all just standing around at the outdoor station. They finally came around the corner a few minutes later and it was too funny, they were old school buses painted white and blue. They said Midway Lanes Bowling Bus...LOL! We all piled on these four school buses and headed to Happy Days Lodge.
We pulled into this parking lot, that had no building or anything, so we were a bit confused. Everyone got off the bus and were escorted down this little path with some stairs that took you to a huge metal pipe tunnel that went under the road. We all walked through the tunnel and came out on the other side where we went back up some stairs. We saw this huge building sitting next to this HUGE field with hundreds of eggs. We knew we were in the right place.
The lodge was really nice and they had a huge stage set up for a puppet show. They also had numerous crafts, games, snacks and of course the Easter Bunny! Reagan even got an egg tattoo. LOL!
They split the kids up into groups and took them out into the field. Reagan was an old pro and dove right in. She probably got 15 or so, which was awesome for the amount of kids!
We headed back inside and a volunteer said that if anyone wanted to head back to Peninsula station to wait, they were more than welcome. There were a couple shops and a few restaurants around that station and we still had about an hour and half before were to get back on, so we chose to go back to town and wait. We headed out of the lodge, back through the pipe to catch the bus.
Once we got off the bus, there was a Winking Lizard there, so we had some lunch and a couple beers. YAY! LOL! My mom and I split a pizza and had salad, while Reagan had her favorite, chicken tenders and fries. Our waiter was really nice but the poor guy dropped a glass right next to our table that shattered into a MILLION pieces!! He was so embarrassed.
After lunch we STILL had about a 1/2 hour, so we of course decide to hit up a shop. There was a really nice shop called Trailmix, that is run by the Cuyahoga National Forest/CVSR. We wandered around in there for a little bit and Reagan fell in LOVE with this little stuffed deer. Of course Nana made the purchase for her sweetie. She was so cute holding that deer. She kept saying, "I love him", "He so soft". She was just hug, hug, hugging him!
Finally, we heard the train blast and sure enough, the train came chugging down the track. We boarded the train and Reagan immediately said, "we see eagle?" She just stared out the window on the way back. She even propped the deer up so he could "see" out the window, too! We luckily did see the eagle again! YAY!
We got back to the car at 4:00 and got back into town around 5:30.
Reagan never had any other issues throughout the day or on the way home. She ate normally and played as usual, thank goodness. I think she may have just got a bit car sick or had a strange burp.
We walked in the door and Mr. Fuzzy went straight to the washer to get a bath before bed time. I ran him through twice...LOL! Reagan happened to be with me when I moved him to the dryer. She was so darling, she wanted to watch him go around and around. I tried to get her out of the laundry room a couple times, but she would just run back in. I had some clean clothes sitting in a laundry basket that needed fluffed before going upstairs, so she sat in the laundry basket on top of the clothes watching Mr. Fuzzy. I didn't want to leave her alone, so I went and got her little Mickey bean bag chair and leaned on that, on the floor of the laundry room. Jim wanted to chat with us, so the next thing I know he and Brinkley are in there sitting on the floor, too. We all sat there a good 15 minutes just waiting for Mr. Fuzzy to dry. It was TOOOO FUNNY! Finally, she got board and said "I go pwayroom!" YAY!
We finished our waiting in there until bath and bed.
So, after a rocky start and the shock of how long we would be there, all in all, we really had a super fun day and I wouldn't have changed a minute. It all worked out and it was a ball.
After all that.....
The photo of the day is Reagan and her new deer friend, watching for the eagle.
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