Day Out With Thomas

This morning we set our alarm clocks (not our normal weekend routine. . ) to head to Day Out With Thomas at the Illinois Railway Museum.   We were there when the gates opened at 9 a.m. tickets in hand!  Will was handed a "map" (actually a paper to collect stamps) and he took his navigation responsibilities very seriously!  I should also mention that although we could have all used more sleep, Will got ready easily and quickly this morning thanks to his excitement.  It also helped that he packed his own backpack, which he did a good job of wearing.  It has a Thomas book and a half dozen Thomas trains.

 First sight of Thomas down the tracks

 Official photo with Thomas. 

We forgot to go back to look at the photo booth, but I'm sure we would not have purchased it.

 Side view of Thomas and some random people

 Sir Topham Hat

Will is actually doing well here to just be laying his head on my shoulder. We ran into our neighbors right before this, and we watched their photo while we waited in line. Their girls were trying much harder to get away!

 

 Waiting on the Thomas train ride to start.

On the advice of the Topham Hat handler, we chose the last car on the train. She correctly told us that we could see Thomas when we went around the bend if we were on the left side.

 This was a well-run operation.  The volunteers offered to take family pictures of everyone as we waited to get going.

The train ride wasn't as cool as I was expecting - just forward - in a very slow and rickety fashion - for 10 minutes and then backwards on the same path.   But, if I want to ride a fast train for a half hour, I guess I can just wait until my commute tomorrow morning.  Plus, Will enjoyed himself, and we enjoyed watching Will, so it made for a great day! 

We didn't  participate in very many of the other activities since we wanted to leave before lunch time, but we easily could have spent the afternoon there.  They had bounce houses, a tent with train legos, a giant pile of sand, and mini golf.   We'll know better next year now.  We're just working our way into this kids stuff slowly. . . .We're spoiled by having so many things to do so close to the house like the children's museum  - or even the zoo - where we can just drop by for an hour and can go again another day.  This was the first time that I can remember doing an "event" that we had to plan in advance, buy tickets for a specific time, and drive a ways to get to.  I guess we'll be ready to tackle Disney next month!