DIY Train Table I Made from Free Plans

I meant to post about this before Christmas, but since I just barely got it finished (like I requested a five minute warning to make sure I got it in off the porch and hidden in plain sight as a coffee table on Christmas Eve barely got it finished) I didn't get any pictures taken. I also failed to take any while it resided in my living room until it was picked up by my in-laws.
Thank goodness Grandma was wielding her camera on Christmas morning or I'd have nothing.

That's it in the background. Isn't it cute?

Are you as distracted as I am by the adorable father daughter moment happening in the foreground?

So yeah, basically I hid the table in plain sight not four feet from the present opening extravaganza and my nieces had no idea until they got a train set. They were pretty excited it. 

When we said we should set it up, they were like, "where?" and I was all, "HERE!"

Note to self: train sets are super complicated. With four adults helping I think we got it done in like half an hour.

The only changes I made from Ana White's free Mom's Train Table plans were skipping the bottom shelf and cutting half circles on either side for opening the top. I wanted it to be flat so you could set things on top without them running in to handles, but in hindsight it also means you can easily lose the balls from your Hungry Hungry Hippos game down the holes.

I painted it aqua at their mom's request and I love the color. I distressed it a bit and stained the bare parts. I should have taken some photos of the finish, but I didn't.  I also painted the opposite side of the top with chalkboard paint so the girls can draw when they aren't busy playing with trains.

Sorry I don't have a better full table shot. I'll try to update when I get one.

UPDATE: My wonderful sister-in-law sent me a photo.