Day out with Thomas

Erin loves Thomas the Train. So this year we treated ourselves to Day out with Thomas. Andrew took two days before the Memorial weekend off and we headed for a fun adventure (despite a promise of a rain, which never materialized). We drove to Heber through Provo canyon. I love following these wounding mountain roads (that is because I am not the one driving, ha ha). There were so many small and medium size waterfalls throughout the canyon from all the snow run off. Indescribably beautiful! Plus the back seat passengers behaved and no one screamed in displeasure.

Anyhow, I am a tiny bit disappointed by the magnitude (or more like a lack of it) of Thomas the Train event. I imagined a bigger place, a longer ride and more activities to do...oh, and train cars not from my grandparents' era (no, they were not antique, they were junky, at least the one we were in). Something just was not quite right, but despite the minor aesthetic drawbacks it was an enjoyable trip.

I am not entirely sure what Erin's expectations were. I suspect that she hoped that Thomas would be more animated and capable of having a conversation with her. As you might imagine, he did not. However, even if he did Erin would be too shy (though impressed) to meet him. She appeared to be shy as it was...or maybe it was boredom. She also refused producing a suitable quality smiles for photos with Thomas and instead scowled .

She did love the train ride though. I believe it was her first time on a train and my Pooky grinned the entire 20 minute trip. Erin looked truly happy to be riding the train. In the best spirit of the Thomas show everyone along the way was so friendly. I am telling you, there were rough looking road fixing crew dudes, random people who walked onto their back porches, drivers waiting at the road crossing and other folks all waving at the passing train. I guess any person with a heart will wave when a train full of little kids is passing by and you see those happy faces. What other reaction can be natural? (No, throwing a rock is a wrong answer Andrew). It was a very sweet experience! Here we are riding. Danny's expression can be translated as "Meh! train-shmain. Is it lunch time yet?" He was bubbly and happy for the most part of our outing though. Being around people usually puts him in excellent mood. Here is Erin waiting in line to get a photo with Thomas. She just could not give us a good smile. Me thinketh she was nervous. We did not manage to get a good shot with Thomas' face and I noticed that there were quite a few kids not thrilled to stand next to their train hero. I think he is best admired from the couch at home. He must look rather intimidating to the little peeps.

Erin and Danny got balloon animals. Erin's is obviously a butterfly and Danny got a monkey holding a banana that I held for him. Erin got acquainted with Porto potty on this trip. She was actually impressed, ha ha.


There was a huge tent devoted to nothing but train sets. Erin spent at least half an hour playing there. I took a notice that for the most of that time she was the only girl in the entire tent (moms and grandmas do not count). Just an interesting observation.

Erin spent another half hour making bubbles. Bubbles and trains obviously go together. We also watched a part of a magic show, but neither Danny nor Erin were impressed, so we had to leave. All in all it was a fun day, full of smiles, good weather and choo-choos. We might be back some other year.

Ta ta for now!