ALL ABOARD!!!  What better way to celebrate a December birthday than to have a Polar Express Birthday Party!  My son turned 3 this year on December 14 and his favorite movie is The Polar Express, so needless to say he had a blast.  There is a great web site www.polarexpress.com in which you can find ideas and activity pages to plan your party. We found our invitation on this web site.  We had the party time set for 7:00 PM and the guests had to wear their Christmas PJ's. Inside their invitation was their ticket for the Polar Express which I found on the website. The decorations were easy because it is Christmas time we really didn't need to add anything extra except some balloons and a birthday banner. Outside our front door I had the music playing from the movie. My husband dressed up like the conductor and greeted the children at the door by punching their tickets and welcoming them to Zach's Polar Express Birthday Party. As the children arrived I had a table set up where they could make their own ginger bread house. I even found some train tracks at the dollar store that I glued beside each gingerbread house. Each child received a santa hat which I purchased at the dollar store as well. After the gingerbread houses were complete we moved into the den where my husband (the conductor) read the story The Polar Express by Chris VanAlsburg, while we cleaned up the gingerbread houses and prepared the table for cake and icecream.  After the story the children gathered in a circle to play a game. I wrapped several boxes to look like presents and placed them inside of each other for the game.  We played music from the Polar Express soundtrack and when the music stopped the child opened the present, only to find another wrapped present.  After several times around, the last present was opened by my son. We purchased The Polar Express bell from a Hallmark store that comes in a gift box and has "The Polar Express" inscribed on the bell. Zach took the bell out and began to ring the bell.  I then began to say, "Zach, did you hear something? Ring the bell again." He rang the bell and then I said that I thought the sound was coming from the front door.  We opened the front door and there stood Santa Claus! We had our neighbor dress up like Santa. We had cake and ice cream with Santa and all the children were able to sit on Santa's lap and tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  As each child was sitting in Santa's lap we took their picture so that we could send their picture with Santa to them in their thank you note.  Santa passed out bells to all of the children which I found at the dollar store.  We said good-bye to Santa and then opened presents.  In their goodie bags we included some of the activity pages that we found on the website among other items from the dollar store. For the grandparents and other family members I made homemade hot chocolate mix for them to take home and enjoy during the holiday season.  The party was so much fun planning and the children had a blast!  We will always remember this special night!