�Welcome aboard the Bi-Polar Express. All tickets are one-way only. We�re headed to the North Pole.� The announcement crackled over the train intercom. AJ bounced with excitement. �Did he say the Polar Express?� he asked as the adults across the aisle snickered about the Bi-Polar joke. �I think he was joking,� I said. But it didn�t matter. AJ and all the other children on the train, all dressed in their Christmas best, were as excited as if they were really going to see Santa himself at the top of the world.

We had stumbled out of our car in the pouring rain at the train station to find one of AJ�s school friends, H., the one who�s sixth birthday party AJ will attend this afternoon, standing on the platform with her mother and brother and her doll Emily. They were all going to have a party with H�s grandmother at the Doll Palace downtown. We all ended up in the same car across the aisle from another kindergartner, one who looked just like the girl on the cover of one of my favorite childhood picture books, The Surprise Doll. She was with her doll too. We were introduced to both girl and doll, but I could not honestly tell you which name applied to which. It didn�t really matter. The children were so excited that they weren�t really listening to each other anyway.

The conductor entered the car and handed out chocolate to each child. AJ noticed that one of the girls at the end of the car had hung a candy cane from her coat hook. The conductor came back and punched tickets with almost as much flair as the conductor of the real Polar Express. The children waved their tickets gleefully in the air.

The train ride passed quickly. Soon we were in a taxi with our luggage, headed to our hotel. Through some extravagant luck, our room was ready when we arrived, a fully four hours before official check-in time. It was even more palatial than last year�s, with not one, but two window seats, one of which was as long as a twin bed and half again as deep. I could easily have slept there comfortably, except for the possibility of waking up facing down toward the bottom of the window, looking at the street 8 floors below. The river was rippled with rain. We watched huge puddles form in the intersection below. Rain was pouring off the roof of the circular Christian Science church next door. Most of our plans for this trip had involved being out of doors. This was going to be a challenge.

We decided to eat lunch in the hotel restaurant, where AJ was entertained with crayons and the entire tabletop as his canvas. By the time we finished, the rain had retreated to a heavy drizzle. We found our umbrellas and sallied forth, first to see the Mary Poppins windows at Marshall Field�sMacy�s and then to see the tree in its famous Walnut Room. After we�d had all the indoor Christmas cheer we could, we headed to Millennium Park to skate. It was perfect � four days before Christmas, and nearly empty, thanks to the warm, wet weather. We walked right up to the skate rental office � only to learn that the rink was closing down for a half an hour. Thwarted, we headed for the great tree in Daley Plaza.

The tree, made up of dozens of smaller trees and branches in a giant frame, is better this year. There used to be some tired looking fake giant presents around the bottom to cover the base of the frame, but now the greenery comes all the way down to the pavement. The model railroad display that runs through a dry fountain was more elaborate than ever and the Christkindl Market (which Mr. Spy still insists on referring to as the Kristallnacht Market), with its cheerful red and white striped awnings, seems to have more artisans than last year. But it was too soggy for us to do more than pause briefly in front of the trains. We headed back towards the river to visit AJ�s godfather, Mr. Spy�s oldest brother. Last year we enjoyed a spectacular view of Lincoln Park and the lakefront form his 25th floor office. This year the buildings were all in a fog. We could see nothing more than the lights of cars stretched out on the city grid for miles. AJ�s uncle was busy, so we didn�t stay long. By now completely soaked, we headed back to the hotel to dry off and change our socks. After some bad wine, purchased at the White Hen across the street from the hotel, the world�s best pizza delivered to our door, and some better wine at the hotel�s happy hour, we were feeling much better and ventured out to do a little shopping. AJ was not keen on leaving the room, or the goldfish, which he named Goldie, that came with it. But he was persuaded and after we had stalked down some extravagant Christmas trees and played with legos in the Lego store, he admitted he had a good time.

Back at the hotel again, he relished every new and different thing, from taking a bath behind a curtain to sleeping in a bed so high off the floor, to sharing a room with Mr. Spy and myself. After singing a couple of Christmas carols, he went right to sleep and I slipped into the bathroom to enjoy a soak myself. We were all warm and cozy and relaxed. Ahhh.

This morning we all woke up early. Or rather, AJ woke up early and woke the rest of us up. But it didn�t matter. We camped out in the windowseat and watched the lights come on in the office buildings around us. It was raining even harder. Mr. Spy went down to the lobby for coffee and came back with coffee and six different newspapers, so we found plenty to do in the room for a while. When it was clear that the rain wasn�t letting up, we decided to eat breakfast in the hotel and thus avoid getting soaked. By the time we finished, it had lightened up considerably, but not enough to make a walking trek or a return attempt at skating look like a good idea, so instead we took AJ to the Field Museum of Natural History. AJ was less impressed with the giant dinosaur skeletons and ancient fossils than he was with the educational cartoon videos planted throughout the exhibits, but he was intrigued by the depiction of evolution. I expect we�ll be hearing more about it in a few days � it usually takes him at least three days to digest such things. It was lovely being in the museum so early and with so few people around to crowd the place. The museum staff was everywhere and was extremely helpful without being intrusive � a museum rarity. We saw only the tiniest fragment of the collection before AJ started to droop. It was time to head home.

We returned to the hotel for our bags. �Goodbye, pretty swimmy fish. Goodbye, Goldie,� he said, cradling the glass bowl with his hands. �Goodbye most beautiful room,� and then, running to the windowseat one last time, �Goodbye, big city!� And then, like magic, the sun came shooting out of the black clouds, causing the river to explode with sparkling light.

It was raining again by the time we caught a cab to the train station. The train ride home was quieter, but AJ made friends with two boys in front of us who were traveling with their parents and baby sister, traveling back home after a trip to the big city. �Happy Holidays!� said the three year old to me as they prepared to get off the train a few stops before us. �What do you celebrate?� the six-year-old asked AJ. �Do you celebrate Hanukkah?�

�No. We celebrate Christmas.�

�We do too!� the boy said with great excitement. �We�re just the same! We both celebrate Christmas!� �Happy Christmas!� he shouted to us as they walked down the train�s aisle. �Happy Christmas,� shouted AJ back.

And then we were home. And there were three packages on our doorstep and 14 cards in our mailbox (including the best Christmas photo in the history of Christmas photos from freshhell -- thanks!). And there were birthday presents to wrap and cards to write and mail to read and answer. And now I am in a napping house, a house waiting for more exciting things to happen.

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