Hotel Roanoke & Transportation Museum

My mom's birthday was this past Monday. She took my kids that weekend and then we met at the Hotel Roanoke for lunch on Sunday with my older brother, his wife, and my younger brother.  We had a very nice lunch with a very kid-appreciative waitress. My mom got a present from her younger sister with instructions on how to spend it.

 

 We tried to take some family pictures, but everyone had bunny ears. And then Richard Nixon showed up.  {Henry asking me why he was supposed to be saying, "I am not a crook." was kinda precious!}

 Benjamin ate lots of food except for the stuff that was on his plate.

 Then we went over to Roanoke Visitor's Center to get some information about the transportation museum.  Frances thought this pile of gifts made a great picture place. I tend to agree!

 When we got to the Transportation Museum, the kids got to see lots of antique cars; but most of the place is dedicated to rail history in the area.  They had a refurbished train they call the Candy Cane Express that we got to ride on.  Benjamin took a ride in a racecar while we were in line from the train.

 The train goes about a mile down the tracks and comes back.  The kids loved it. And they all got a candy cane when they got off.

 There was also a playground with transportation themed things to play with.  We had to push the kids back and forth on this car about 30 times!

 Inside, Benjamin found an old train cockpit (that's probably not the right word...) He played with all the buttons and levers in here for about 20 minutes.  Then he left and wandered around a bit and came back to play some more.  This was his favorite spot!

 Right before we left the kids got in line to get their faces painted.  Henry wanted to be Rudolph.

 Frances was an Ice Princess (on the way home she kept telling me that she was so cold her lips were turning blue!)

 Benjamin actually sat still long enough to be transformed into an adorable kitty.

It was a great trip and we all had a blast!!