Rainy Day Out With Thomas

 We got to visit the beloved Thomas the Tank Engine!  We took what the boys have been calling our “summer vacation” – a day trip up to Green Bay for the Day Out With Thomas event at the National Railroad Museum.   A few weeks ago, Andrew ‘discovered’ Thomas and is now super excited whenever he sees a “choo choo.”  We thought our Thomas days were pretty much over since the bigger boys don’t play with the trains anymore.  We were wrong.  Andrew’s new interest has renewed theirs, so, therefore, the Day out with Thomas was the perfect family event!

They have so many activities for the little ones at these events.  Here’s a hay maze with stamping stations and a treat for everyone who got all of the stamps.

There were inflatables for a few hours when we first got there.  It was pretty wet from some rain the day before, and they were anticipating rain again, but for a short time, we explored outside.

The boys got to try a hand card!  We had never seen one close up.  The poor staff guy did most of the work.  He was probably pretty sore after carting all of those kiddos all day long.

We were fascinated at how big the wheels of some of the engines were – this one was almost as tall as Daddy!!!

On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.  I can’t say it without singing the tune!

  Scott explains where the coal was shoveled into the engine to make it work.  I’m sure it wasn’t quite as scientific as it could have been.  The boys have a very short attention span!

Next, we got Thomas tattoos!  Inside one of the big museum buildings, they had kids entertainment, crafts, and lots of toy trains for the kids to play with.  We even saw a boy from Patrick and Luke’s class there.

  And, we met Sir Topham Hatt!  Immediately following our celebrity sighting, Andrew wandered off.  It was a crazy, scary few minutes, but he turned up.  I think we will only dress him in hunter orange when we are in big crowds form now on.

The skies opened up just a few minutes before we got in line for our turn to ride the train pulled by Thomas (or rather, pushed by the big boring looking engine in the back of the train, but that’s our little secret).  We lucked out and got to ride on the top level of a double decker train car!  Super cool for a bunch of pre-schoolers!

Here’s a picture of it from after we rode.  Now that I look at it, it’s not that cool looking, but you can see the windows in the green part above the yellow bottom level.

Mom, Luke, Andrew and Patrick – drenched but ready for the ride! Luke, Andrew, Patrick, Joseph and Dad – happy to finally be seated and out of the rain.

All of my boys!

    Of course, the best part of the day was watching the boys excitement over the whole event.  Andrew enjoyed looking out the window towards the front of the train to catch glimpses of Thomas as we turned left.

 

Maybe our Thomas days are not over after all.  That sweet innocence and joy in the boys makes me happy.