A Day Out with Thomas!

For all the years that Reid has loved trains, he has never been as "train crazy" as some of his friends. But he does love them. Even when they disappear from his toy lineup for a while, he always seems to come back to them faithfully. So this year, when our friends the Maxwells asked if we'd like to go to "A Day Out with Thomas"... of course we went!

The nearest location for the event is in Bryson City, NC - maybe 2 hours from here, into the mountains a bit. Janet and I ventured out with Reid (4), Will (4), and Sofia (2) early in the day so we'd have plenty of time for whatever came our way.

We got there without a problem (well, other than those caused by two four-year-olds sitting too close to each other) and decided to visit the model train museum. They had a nice little setup and the kids loved watching the trains and pushing the buttons to move the different mechanisms. After grabbing some lunch at the Depot, it was finally our time to board the (un-air conditioned) train!

The boys were super excited (I'm not sure if Fi really cared) as we departed the station. The "route" - which is really just straight down the track and then reverse all the way back to the station - took about 45 minutes total and was enjoyable. We passed over a large stream and through some hills and, at the reverse point, Thomas let out a huge cloud of steam! The boys spent the entire ride looking out the windows in awe.

After the ride, we visited the Thomas gift tent and somehow did not buy anything (yay!). Then we visited the petting zoo, the activity tent, and the bouncy house. Did I mention that it was super hot that day? Of course we also needed some ice cream before getting back in the car for the ride home.

As expected, the ride home was not as easy-going as the ride there because the kids were hot and tired. And then we hit Greenville right around rush hour which made getting home that much harder. The kids were hungry and cranky! But we made it and it was worth it - a great day for the most part!