Trains can be very loud.

Last week while doing a little photo shoot on some old train tracks we heard train whistles in the distance. So, as any good Mommy would have done, we jumped back in the car and drove toward the trains so we could watch. We saw one from the car (which is the way to go) and then we saw one just sitting. The lights were on and Jackson wouldn't let me drive away because he just knew it was going to move (we were actually on our way to the Zoo so I was ready to go). There is a little train platform and some picnic benches so I parked, unloaded the kids and we waited for the train. All was well in the world. For a minute. We watched men getting off and on the trains and they waved at us. Very nice. For a minute. More lights were coming on, the train was going to move. Jackson was so excited he was jumping up and down. So cute. Isabel was getting a little nervous and clingy. Smart girl. The train is moving closer and closer. The engineer waves through his little window as he gets right next to us. The next thing I know he starts to blow the whistle and the horn. It was so freakin' loud my heart jumped. Isabel literally climbed up my body like she was a squirrel and I was a tree. She was crying and freaking out. Then I look at Jackson and he is crying and every time the horn blows he jumps out of his skin. It was awful! I have never seen my kids like this! Sheer terror! I am now carrying them both and RUNNING back to the car. I got them loaded and now we were stuck. We couldn't get back to the main road until the damn train got out of our way. And it was, of course, the longest train in the world. We sat there for 30 minutes waiting. The kids finally calmed down but talked for days about how the "Black Train" scared them and made them cry. I was seriously worried that Jackson's love of trains would be lost but that was silly, huh? :)
(We did eventually make it to the Zoo, btw. Pics on next post)

Very, very loud train!