Scattered Thoughts . . .

Miss Mackenzie at the head of our table at The Munich Haus. While we were all out to dinner on Saturday night of our long train show weekend, our little Mackenzie created a new identity for herself... an alter ego... and, in the process, she invited us in for a more intimate glimpse of her own developing personality... During our more formal dinner out at a German Festhaus (I will write more about this dinner and Festhaus later), the 33 month old Kenzie asked to be taken to the potty. This polite and responsible request alone deserves some positive reinforcement but this is not the subject of this blog entry. The subject of this blog entry is about a little girl's imagination while in a land far from home and while in a rather noisy and unfamiliar cultural restaurant with her family... Liza quickly ushered Kenzie to the ladies room. While in the ladies room, a woman was taken with Miss Mackenzie's presence, behavior and personality and asked Kenzie for her name. Kenzie

Whenever we wander from home for our long weekend excursions, we always meet some friendly and sometimes very interesting people. The train show in Springfield, Massachusetts has never been an exception and this year was no different. While we were enjoying our first night in Springfield for the train show, the grandchildren made new friends with a local Dish Network Satellite installer. This gentleman enjoyed Lukey's and Kenzie's animated antics while they entertained us in the lounge during our pizza dinner. Seeing the kids reminded him that he had some little Dish Network promotional gifts out in his truck in the form of stuffed animals. He was kind enough to run out to his truck to retrieve his last two "Hoppers" to gift to the kids. Both Kenzie and Lukey were given their own Hopper the Kangaroo by this kind Dish installer. These gifts were definitely appreciated by both of the kids... and that is evident here in the photos!

Today is a rather lousy health day for me so I am stuck in the house trying to find something interesting to do which will not make my health any worse. Since I have some model railroading trains sitting out and about after our annual train show in Springfield, I decided I would see why one of our Lionel GP-7's will not move in forward or reverse. When I power it up, everything seems to work just fine including the sound. When I try to put it in forward or reverse, I can hear the twin motors whirring away so I know the motors run but the gears are not engaging. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the little gear that is supposed to be on the end of the motor driveshaft has broken off each motor. These gears were cheapo plastic gears that were somehow affixed to the smooth metal driveshaft (I have one of the broken gears in the bottom of the styrofoam box for the locomotive). It clearly was a poor design and I knew I would not be able to fix this problem without replacing a f

Mortamore Grim the Conductor... he vibrates and shakes from side to side... The kids really enjoyed most of their first train show in Springfield this year. I believe their biggest issue was the same as my biggest issue... fighting fatigue. Overall, they both really loved the show and I'm sure they will jump at the chance of joining us again next year. They loved all the trains... Kenzie loved the people figures, city scenes, people figures and even some of the trains... Lukey loved the trains, in general, but the bigger, the better... they both enjoyed everything associated with Maggie the Clown... they loved driving the trains... they loved the Thomas the Train play area... they loved the Lionel trains play area... Kenzie loved all the railroading gifts and trinkets... but, one thing scared the bejesus out of Lukey... Mortamore Grim the Conductor . Old Mortamore Grim is simply a lifesize mannequin of a conductor who is a bit shakey like a weak, old man. This mannequin

Watching all the G scale trains from his bucket pedestal... On Saturday of the train show down in Springfield, we came across a huge operating layout of G scale trains. There must have been at least a dozen trains running in all directions. For those unfamiliar with model railroad scales... G scale trains are twice the size of the standard Lionel trains.  Lukey immediately got up on his five gallon bucket so he could see better. He had his locomotive whistle in his mouth while he pointed out different trains. One of the men showing these trains noticed Lukey and came over to talk with him. Within a minute or two, Lukey was asked if he wanted to drive one of the trains.  Lukey's eyes enlarged as he started looking around and getting antsy to get off his five gallon bucket... In the driver's seat... Grammy walked him beyond the cordoned off area where all the controls were located for driving all these huge trains... Lukey sat on the lap of one of the engineers and wa

I love scents. The human sense of "smell" actually is one of the most amazing senses. Just a brief whiff of a certain scent will immediately evoke very vivid memories.  Just a brief whiff of a delicious meal will get your salivary glands working in overdrive and cause your stomach to start bellowing for food. Scents will bring back fond memories instantly. With the good comes the bad as well. Just as many scents will evoke positive memories and emotional responses, some scents are truly revolting and offensive. Some of these offensive scents will linger in our nostrils for days. Heck, I can still vividly remember horrendous stenches from decades ago! I truly love all sorts of cooking scents... garlic, rosemary, citrus, basil, etc. I love many sweet but subtle perfumes. I love many smooth after-shave lotions and colognes. There are a few scents, however, which I find incredibly offensive, disgusting and revolting. The scent which seems to be getting ever more popular by

Sheila's dad, Will, is quite tall but looks like a  young kid next to Maggie!   It's funny...  I can actually see the little boy in Will  in this photo! I suppose  there is a little  boy  in each of us which shines through at these shows... Most people don't like being called a clown... but Maggie the Clown does! She seems to thrive on being a clown and entertaining kids. There is no doubt that Maggie is good at what she does and she enjoys doing it! In all the years we have been attending the annual Amherst Railway Society train show, Maggie the Clown has been an active participant in keeping the young kids entertained all through the weekend. Maggie personally greeted Lukey and Kenzie shortly after they arrived at the show... she introduced herself and invited them to her show... offered them balloons... and we learned a bit more about Maggie this year... Maggie the Clown actually lives on a train! She is a clown with the Ringling Brothers Circus and, as many

There isn't much which is more amusing than watching a toddler suck on a lemon!  Lukey grabbed ahold of the lemon in Grammy's water while we were in the lounge on Friday night and then couldn't put the slice down until it was a mess of pulp!   It made for a nice series of photos... ...and he just kept eating it...

We seem to have started a tradition when it comes to dinners while out of town for the train show and especially so on the first night of our annual train show weekend. It took a few years to get to this point however.  Truth be told, we didn't really know what to expect the first year we attended this particular train show. That first year, Sheila, Adam and I left home at around 6am on Saturday morning... arrived in Springfield when the gates to the show opened... waited in traffic to enter the immense parking lot... waited in more lines to buy tickets and actually enter the first of four buildings housing the show... made our way through the four buildings and walked around the extremely crowded show all day... then drove back home that evening. It was a verryyyy loooonnnnnnggggggg and exhausting day!  Not only was that a long, exhausting day but we knew that just one day at this show was not nearly enough time to see everything. This show is big... I mean BIG. I've

View from our room upon arrival... This year was the first year that we were able to leave home for the train show by lunchtime, or even whenever we wanted, so we could arrive by check-in time. In the past, we always had to wait for Adam to get out of school before heading out of town.  We are now empty-nesters so we have the freedom to leave home whenever we desire!  Liza, however, had to wait until she was finished with her teaching school day which meant that Liza and the grandchildren would not arrive at the hotel until later in the evening. When the kids arrived at the hotel for their first train show, we were all in the lobby lounge area enjoying a few beverages and waiting for them to arrive so we could order some pizza. The hotel lobby with some of our party at the front desk... Liza tells us that the kids were a bit confused when they left home... and understandably so. All of us had been reminding them all week long that we will be going to a train show for the we