Evan's (early) Birthday Surprise!

Evan has so much 'stuff' so this year we're using our heads and doing 'events' instead of gifts. Evan's known for weeks that we were doing something for his birthday a little early, but he didn't know what. I love having a secret. He would try to guess what we'd be doing but I never told.
His original guess was that we'd be riding a train. (I talked him out of that one!)
Then he guessed we'd be getting a dog. ( I told him we didn't need tickets to get a dog...)
Then he thought maybe we were going on a CRUISE! (Now wait a minute kid!)

So imagine Evan's delight Saturday when he learned the good news. We'd headed out to Hood River (Where the Mt. Hood Railroad is) for lunch, and told him a Taco Bell of all places, what we'd be doing. I had his conductor's hat in my bag and I pulled it out and told him, "You might need this today." His face lit up. He then guessed that we'd be watching trains. Then I told him we'd be RIDING trains. He said, "You've got to be kidding me! Are you serious? You're really serious? You're not joking?" Nope, not even joking.

This annual event is only here in June and we were so glad Evan got to experience it!

Evan and me. He's still taking it in!

That's the caboose we'll be on. The best seats in the house were up top. We spent a good amount of our ride up there and the views were great! What a fun place to sit!

I don't know what river this is that pours into the Columbia, but it sure is pretty. I noticed several men fly-fishing out there. Breath taking views to say the least!

I hung my arm out the window and was lucky to get this almost centered!

I think I love this one best. The look on his face says it all. In this moment he looks like an angel. :)

Off the train and back to more fun. Trains to play with at Imagination Station, boucing in the Bounce House and petting/feeding animals in the Kid's Petting Farm.

This is a kid who seriously LOVES trains.

We wrapped up the afternoon by sitting by the edge of the Columbia River there in Hood River watching the windsurfers and kiteboarders. It's awesome to watch. I guess it's one of the best places in the US to do this because the condition are just perfect. Of course, Evan was interested for a minute and then was back to throwing rocks in the water. Another great day!