Grandfather and Granddaughter

I had a very special relationship with my grandfather as I was growing up.  He passed away 2 years ago, not long after Kira was born, but I still think of him often.  One special memory I have of him was our shared interest in trains.  He used to set up a platform in his basement each Christmas season for his collector's trains and Christmas village.  I would spend a lot of time with him down in the basement running the trains.  My favorite thing to do was blow the train whistle and wear the conductor's hat.





When he got older he passed on the trains to my dad who continued the tradition in our house.  My dad also set up a platform in the basement and built some new additions to the display like a tunnel that the trains went through and a helicopter that hung from the ceiling.  He stopped putting up the trains for a few years but got some of them back out when Kira was born.  He only does a modified set-up on the living room floor now, but Kira loves sitting in there with him just like I did with my grandfather.

[caption id="attachment_2151" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kira's First Train Experience (December 2009)"][/caption]

This year I had the idea of looking for a conductor's hat for Kira, just like the one I used to wear.  My mom found one for Kira and my dad on eBay and they opened the hats on Christmas.  It is so fun to see the two of them wearing their matching hats.  I am so happy that my daughter is starting to form some of the same special memories that I was blessed with from my childhood.

[caption id="attachment_2152" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Special Christmas Present"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2153" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kira and Papa"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2155" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption=""Choo-Choo!""][/caption]