When my dad asked about what Mallory wanted/needed for Christmas, I looked around our house and realized there wasn’t much she needed. There are plenty of things she would say she wanted but nothing she needed.
We’ve talked about maybe taking the train to Chicago one of the times that we go and it never seems to work out for us to travel by rail.
This, along with the memory of my dad taking me by train to Battle Creek when I was about Mallory’s age for a tour of the Kellogg cereal factory, led me to suggest to my dad that he take Mallory on a day trip by train somewhere to have lunch.
He made her a little certificate to open on Christmas morning, and they finally took their trip in early February.
On our way to pick up my dad to go to the train station, I told Mallory she might want to not waste the battery on her iTouch (my old iPhone) because it might not last they whole trip. She then asked if grandpa’s iPhone had games on it, and then she asked if I played games on my dad’s phone when he took me on my train trip when I was little.
I told her that grandpa didn’t have a cell phone when we took our train trip when I was little.
Mallory asked if daddy had a phone back in 2001…”in the olden days?”
Anyway.
Mallory was so cute with her backpack and a grin that stretched from here to Battle Creek. My dad said he forgot his book – and I told him he wouldn’t have time to read, because I figured they’d be at the snack car most of the trip. He told me they weren’t going to go to the snack car since they were going to Battle Creek to have lunch….
Not 30 minutes into their trip, my dad sent me this picture:
They had a GREAT time, and I think it was a wonderful gift for my dad to give Mallory. Having your grandpa all to yourself for six hours? I can’t think of anything more fun.