Fun to see pope, but where's the huge hat?

On Tuesday, the pint-sized papal fans screamed as they boarded the Amtrak train at Chicago's Union Station, excited they might soon get a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI.

On Wednesday, after a 17-hour train trip to Washington, D.C., they were in tears.

"They're a little tired," explained Doreen Morand, one of four parents chaperoning the four students from St. Benedict Preschool and Elementary School on the North Side.

A few minutes later, they perked up as the pope passed by.

"I was excited," Morand's 8-year-old son Robert said.

Six-year-old Petra Kowalski was also surprised: The pope's "hat" wasn't as big as she'd imagined. "I thought it was going to be huge," said Petra.

Her big sister, Melissa, 10, and Robert's 5-year-old brother, D.J., also made the trip. They and their friends from St. Benedict, at 3920 N. Leavitt, made a giant card for the pope's 81st birthday and held it up for him. "I think he saw us," said Morand, admissions director at St. Benedict. "He was waving."

Rummana Hussain