the mystery of the blue train

i bought jack a little train from target a few weeks ago, thinking it would be a good distraction for our flight since he plays with it nonstop during all of our shopping trips. (what, don't you give your kids random toys to keep them quiet while you enjoy your target run?) he loves it and i love to hear him driving it all over the apartment saying "coo! coo!" i will never inform him that trains actually say "choo choo!" because it is too adorable.

anyway, yesterday we were enjoying a blustery day from the safety of our patio because mama still wasn't quite ready to deal with seattle rain, and he chucked the train overboard without any warning. it landed in the rain gutter one floor below.

it was too far away for me to reach, so i just left it there thinking i'd call maintenance later or something. and then i forgot about it.

when b got home he checked it out and then went outside to retrieve it, but by the time he got there the train was gone! it was raining pretty hard and we thought maybe the train had gotten swept away in the tumultuous current. unfortunately the rain gutter drained straight into the ground so there was no way we could track it down. i went to bed feeling really sad that i had let the little train down and gotten it lost. not to mention jack kept asking "coo? coo?" whenever he walked by the deck.

THEN, this morning, we rushed out the door at 8 a.m. for a dentist appointment (no cavities, woot!) and there on the landing of our staircase was the blue train! warped and slightly worse for wear, it was sitting right in front of me. i have no idea who retrieved it or how they found it, but we got it back. jack played with it the rest of the day even though little chunks of blue paint, no doubt toxic, kept chipping off and getting all over the place. so happy to have our coo coo back.