Christmas countdown, day 2

Having watched the kids and their holiday countdown festivities over the last few years and, literally, hundreds of gifts opened, I'm qualified in rating the "good," "better" and "best" ones.

Today's was easily in the top five of all pre-Christmas gifts opened in our home, if not claiming the top spot (before doing so, I want to jog my memory a bit more). They were excited from the moment they clued into what was in the box, and spent the rest of the evening taking turns conducting and looking on.

The box's larger-than-average size initially sparked crazier-than-normal excitement, but the Christmas train inside drew amazed "oohs" and "ahhs." I'm sure Trace threw in one of his "wow"s for good measure.

The track circles under the Christmas tree, Santa waves from the engine (which also "smokes" for added effect) and a reindeer moves on one of the train's cars. The lights, the whistle, the holiday music, the power to control it all was over-the-top fun.

There's no doubt a good portion of our day tomorrow will be spent lying belly down around the track.