Model Train and Dollhouse Show

Today Mama went for her first outside bike ride of the year, while Mom and the girls headed south to Augusta to check out a model train and dollhouse show.

The show was in the Armory, which is a nice old building that is home to the Maine 240th Army National Guard.Grandma came along to help Mom out with the kids, and we also ran into Nana, Uncle Seth, and Sebastian there!

The place was packed--who knew that a train and dollhouse show would be so popular?

There was so much to look at! Lots of dollhouses, of course....

...but also lots of tiny little dolls and dollhouse accessories (which, as mom learned, are known as "miniatures").Chances are that if you can think of something that might be in a house, it is available in miniature form. It seemed like they had everything there.Of course there were also trains....lots and lots of trains to look at.

The girls got a kick out of the trains, especially the bigger-scale ones that actually had steam coming out of their stacks. They made great whistle sounds too--pretty cool!

There were lots of things to buy, of course, but Mom had a talk with the kids before we went in and laid down the law about not buying anything, so they didn't even ask, which was nice.

Surprisingly, this mirror was a big hit too. They loved watching themselves dance in front of it.Eventually all the excitement started wearing them down, and it was time to go home and have lunch.After lunch we went outside to ride bikes and await Mama's arrival home.

We cheered her up the driveway--that last hill is a killer!

After Mama recovered a little bit, she rode a victory lap around the driveway with the girls. She did 36 miles today in her first outdoor ride of 2010!

Needless to say, we are all proud of Mama for getting out there while there's still snow on the ground.