Day Out With Thomas

At some point in the middle of the night, Tate fussed, so I put him in bed with me.  That bed must have been more then 3 feet off the ground because his head was nowhere near the top of it.  So in preparation of him not being able to sleep through the night in a strange place I put pillow all around what would be his side of the California king, oh my goodness so very comfortable, dreamy, marshmallow like bed.  I could have stayed in that bed for days and days.

I digress.

All dressed and ready to go!

  

6 am and Tate was ready to meet his hero.  Breakfast, teeth brushing, outfitted, snacks packed, extra clothes readied, bags packed and we were all out the door by 7:40am  Angela had to go to a meeting, so I had both children with me.  Yes, we decided O would be fine with me whom she had never met for an entire morning.  And I was shocked.  She did not once cry, fuss or whine when we strapped her into my car!  I doubt Tate would have gone off with Angela and O so willingly.

We arrived in Grapevine which was literally 15 minutes from Angela's with plenty of time to spare.  I got the kids out, coats/sweaters on, my purse loaded up with the necessities and we were off to meet Thomas the Tank Engine!

I have never seen two more excited toddlers.

After taking their picture with Thomas, we stood in line for our 25 minute ride.  Then it was time to board!!  The kids skipped down the platform holding hands.  Such happiness.  I cannot express how much joy I had in my heart...for Tate, for Olivia, for me and Angela who have both always wanted to be mothers ... such an amazing blessing these two are.

Ready to go!!

 The train ride was lovely; pretty simple actually.  Thomas the Train music was piped in, some sort of story was broadcast along with Thomas 'talking' to the passengers over the intercom system.  We rode out about 13 minutes one way and then simply went back the way we came.  But you would never have known as the kids were thrilled.  They jockeyed for position by the window (which was a surprise for me to see Tate 'arguing' with someone' but O did not want to share the window, so initially I tried to let them work it out...work it out the toddler way of pushing and shoving...and I intervened with a firm 'be nice and share the window O or you'll have to sit on my lap.')  Other than that first tussle all went great :)


Once we detrained the kids then took on the Thomas bounce house!!

Next up...tattoos!!!!  Tate chose the Thomas tattoo and O chose Rosie.  Tate was very sure to keep watch over O as she got hers to make sure she was ok.

Next stop...the storytime/video viewing room.  These two sat spellbound while one of the volunteers read a story about Emily the train and one of her forays into working on the branch line with Thomas on Sodor.  (yes I paid very close attention, should a book report be requested).

Then then watched a 10 minute Thomas video.  Most of the other kids came and went in the room, but not Tate and O...they watched the entire episode complete with bouncing along to the song at the end.

We then stood in line for about 20 minutes to meet Sir Topham Hat.  By now the kids were getting a bit hungry.  O wanted a hot dog, and Tate was not pleased with the snack choices I provided.  However, noone melted down, noone cried.  They managed to entertain each other.  I was thrilled that they were really doing so well together.  I had been a bit worried about handling 2 two year olds on my own, especially one of whom I had met less than 24 hours prior :)  As soon as it was their turn to meet Sir Topham Hat these little guys ran up to him, hands extended for a shake.  They were so very excited and confident.  I was so proud of them.

And what would a day out with Thomas be without crappy fair type food.  I got O a corn dog by request and Tate devoured an ice slushie after eating a couple of chicken nuggets from home.

We then meandered over to ride what Tate called 'the little train'.  It was simple, but really cute.  We had another 20 or so minute wait, but the kids did great.

Cheering the other riders on!

Is it our turn yet?

I let the kids ride together alone.  Not a tear, not a whimper.  Such amazingly confident, self-assured toddlers Ang and I have.


Once they were off the 'little train,'  Thomas was visible in the distance returning from one of his jaunts.

Just a boy and his train.

By now Tate and O have had a couple little tussles complete with some pushing and Tate's cry of 'Get away from my mommy!'  As we stood in line to order a picture I looked down as they were fighting amongst my legs to see O on the ground crying, hitting Tate and Tate getting a few swipes in with his feet (I'm aghast!),  trying to get away from her.  I swooped O up in my arms while Tate then cried and begged to be picked up.  How anyone ever manages two fulltime alone I will never know.  Granted these two did really well together and this was the only time I had them both crying at the same time.  Most of their power struggles were of the normal 'I'm an only child of a single mother who has a big personality' toddler variety, so very much expected.  A few kisses and hugs (and a reminder to not hit) for O who did ask for her mommy allowed me to put her down and pick up Tate, admonish him for kicking and peppering his face with kisses.  And then it was like nothing happened....

Last but not least, we stopped in the gift shop.  Or shall I say Thomas the Tank Engine heaven.  Everything Thomas imaginable was on sale.  Yet, Tate and O actually did not ask for one thing.  They did not run around picking everything up and bringing it to me.  They did not touch everything in sight (which they certainly could have as the tables were on their level...such a great marketing ploy).  They both found one toy they liked (suggested by me) and we made our purchases and headed out the door back to the car.

Two happy toddlers

I got them loaded into the car, and we were on our way home.  O fell asleep immediately.  Tate was a bit more difficult, which totally surprised me.  We had been on the ground of the railroad for 4 hours.  I suppose he was over-stimulated, overwhelmed.  Who knows.  He fought going to sleep like noone's business.  Finally after driving around for 25 minutes he fell asleep.  Poor O was kept awake, though dozing through his whining and crying.  By the time we got home both had slept about 30 minutes and were wide awake and ready for the afternoon as soon as Angela came out the back door.


This was such an amazing day.  Seeing my little boy have so much fun and be so happy is what life is all about.  And certainly I don't want my life to revolve around Tate and his happiness, but what people used to always say...'I love getting to see life through their eyes'...is so very true.  Just watching him experience this brought so much joy to me, I almost couldn't believe it.  And trains are definitely not something I would have ever been into as the girly girl I am, so I'm getting to experience an entirely new realm of life because of my sweet boy.  I'm grateful for the opportunity.