Yesterday we ventured over to Union, Illinois to visit the Illinois Railway Museum. I don't remember how we had heard about it, but if you at all have met Vivian, you know we have a train junkie in our house. We figured that she'd enjoy spending a few hours looking at real life trains and it's only about 40 minutes east of Rockford, so a super easy trip to make.
What we weren't expecting was this museum to be so hopping! There were a lot of people there, lots of things to ride on, and so much to visit. Even for those of us who aren't really into trains (aka: me and Elisabeth) we ended up having more fun than we anticipated.
Evan won major points for finding us a Groupon so that we were all only $4 each to get in! Gotta love a deal. We rode on an old commuter trolley first that was bright red. The conductors came and punched your tickets, which the younger two girls found exciting.
Why can't my third child just nicely smile for pictures?! Siiiiigh.
I'm really glad we chose to go yesterday because the weather was PERFECT! Low 70s, sunny, and I didn't melt into a 35+ week pregnant pile of sweat. I hate sweating. Plus, there was no fast walking and lots of places to sit.
There was a picnic area and a little park for the kiddos. Next time we will totally bring a lunch.
Besides the working trolleys (three total), the old 70s accordion bus (we did not ride that this time), and the steam train, there were a lot of barns filled to the max with tons of different trains.
Vivian totally loves talking about how trains are coupled. Every time she saw two engines coupled together she made us all look.
I was partial to the yellow trains or trolleys. Obvs.
This trolley went directly to the zoo!!! Best one ever!
The steam engines were unanimously the favorite of the trains we saw.
Vivian was super cute because she kept using her shirt as a reference point with all the steam trains she saw. She'd see if the train had the same parts as her shirt. "There's the funnel...and the bell...and the whistle..."
Another red trolley! This one took you all over the grounds and dropped you off places. It was a uber pregnant lady's dream.
There were a few old train cars they'd turned into gift shops and book stores.
Vivian was so excited to see THREE play train tables. We hung out there for a good twenty minutes.
We ended up eating lunch at the diner.
Time to ride the actual STEAM TRAIN!!
This was the last thing we did and Vivian was so excited that she couldn't function normally. She laid down in her seat while she waited for the train to start moving. This was her face when she heard the whistle:
Passing the trolley on the tracks:
After the ride you could go up and look inside the control room.
In August they are having Thomas and Percy come and all three girls agreed that it would be worth it to come back that soon so Vivian could ride her favorite trains. There really was so much to do and see that we didn't get to it all in the 5 hours that we were there. It was a fun day!
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