AccurailToday was a very interesting day!  Zachary, Grandpa, and I drove up to Elburn, IL on a little “guy’s activity” and checked out a small train car manufacturing business named Accurail.  Grandpa Halliday is VERY into model railroading, and this place is where he orders most of his model train cars.   One of the guys there gave us a tour of how they manufacture everything.  We got to see the raw materials (styrene beads that they melt down to inject into the steel molds), how they create the molds and make the parts, where they paint and stamp the parts and where they package the finished parts for shipping.  Zachary got to grab a handful of train wheels which he thought was pretty cool!

After our tour, the guy there gave Zachary 3 train cars (no doubt to peak his interest so we would go home and buy a locomotive, track, transformer, etc.)!  🙂  Zachary was really excited and first thing when we got home, he wanted to go out and buy a train set!  🙂  It was very cute.  He wanted us to take pictures of him with his new train cars…

ZachTrains

The girls went with Grandma and went to see “The Princess and the Frog” at the movie theater, while Angela was able to enjoy some quiet at home with Benjamin sleeping.

When we all got back home, Angela and I went shopping for a new faucet for the kitchen.  Our old one had been leaking and it was about time.  We finally found one we liked, and after all of us going out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes (thanks Grandma and Grandpa), we came back and installed it.  No more leaks!  🙂