More Trains with Opa

Opa brought some of his trains for the little ones to play with at their house.

 They were eager to help although I don't think Opa found them very helpful.

They loved watching the train.

 And playing with it.  Trying to put it back on the tracks when it derails.

Or just playing with the individual cars.

 Being a tunnel.

 Taking the cars off and on the track.

 When it became a little too hands on we set their chairs up in the middle as a viewing platform.

We started singing a song that we learned at Carolina's StrongStart.

"The Goodbye Train"

  

In the afternoon our bubble blowing fish was loaded onto one of the cars which added more excitement.

 Following the bubble train.

 

We all love trains!

Train Play

Trains for Opa and trains for the little ones.

Here is what Opa made.

Since we travel every week over to the mainland to care for the little ones, Opa decided to make a portable train layout to take with him.

This is his new N scale layout.
It fits the size of a kitchen table.

The lid of his model holds a wooden train set for the little ones.

It's perfect to lay on the floor.

There's lots of room for one child to play within the model.

Or for more than one.

The track is attached to the lid but the rest we add each time it is open.

Sometimes the little ones join Opa and watch his trains go around.

Sometimes Opa joins them on the floor to play with their wooden trains.

Opa Brought a Train!

Opa came to visit last week and he brought a train.

 He carried the big bin into the back yard and started unpacking it.

The little one spotted the people 

and began to put them in the cars.

And out again.

Opa started laying the track under close supervision and looks like strong suggestions.

She was enthusiastic and a big help.

The track is together and out comes the train.  

Hook them together and watch them go.

 Time to play.  

Load the people on the cars then give the red caboose a little push.

Oh no! It was too hard of a push, the caboose derailed.

No worries, Opa is here to set it back on.

 Next came a lesson in operating the train.

She learned fast which button made the train noise.

As Opa operated, the little one explored the buildings.

In the afternoon we found a box and made a tunnel.

 

Then a few of her stuffed animals got to go for a ride.

SaveSave

Cross Country Trip

It's final.  I'm retired! And with that my husband and I have headed off across the country in search of trains and other interesting sights.  You can follow along on our blog called Opananaland.

Opa is my husband and Nana is myself.  This blog started when my husband built a garden railway in our back yard.  When he was planning it we talked a lot about when we have grand children that it would have to be open for them to touch and play with.  We've learned from each other about our ideas of children playing with the 'trains' and have practice sessions with friends bringing their children to visit.

Cross Canada

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Watch for more to come - it's a big country!

Summer is Over

Hope you have enjoyed summer vacation.

My husband and I did a bit of traveling, camping and hiking.

One new thing that we started this summer

was a blog for my husband's garden railway.

The railway takes up our whole back yard.  He has done a wonderful job

of winding it through the plants and trees that are well established.

When he was building it and looking for buildings he realized that Playmobil people

fit to scale.  So we started to find it at thrift stores and on swap pages.

It's amazing the many, many scenarios that Playmobil have created.

He based his layout after the old TV show called Petticoat Junction.

And the stars of this railway are Opa and Nana 

(which will be us once our first grandchild is born)

 so we called it Opananaland.

This summer Opa and Nana traveled with us and when we saw trains or models

they posed for some pictures and then blogged about it.

It's been fun creating stories and posing these two.

If you want to follow along or just take a peek you can find it at

https://opananaland.wordpress.com/