The zoo train

So for months, we stalked the zoo train. We listened for it. We watched it go by. We stopped in the middle of conversations about giraffes and zebras to listen to the whistle. We discussed the train stations and the tracks. Elliot's part of these dialogues had been slowly escalating from listening for the train to watching the train to finally the last time we were at the zoo I heard, "mama, RIDE train?"

"You want to ride it?" I asked. This was a big step from just admiring the train from afar, which seemed to scare Elliot a bit at times. I promised him that if he obeyed on the way home, he could tell papa that next time we went to the zoo, he and papa could actually ride the train.

You think little people sometimes forget things. They do. Vegetables, cleaning up, handwashing. But not trains. As SOON as I mentioned the zoo the other day - "Papa, RIDE TRAIN?" And so they did. And here they are, waiting in line with their tickets, (which Elliot is currently sleeping with as I type this) and riding through the wooded areas of the St. Louis Zoo. The kid was beside himself with joy, and then crushed when he actually had to get off. We wondered, if we let him, how long would he actually stay ON the train?