Day Out with Thomas!

Anyone who spends even just a few minutes with Joshua will discover that the kid is obsessed with trains.  And cars, and trucks, and tractors, and planes...  But mostly trains, and mostly Thomas trains.  He has a steadily growing collection of Thomas engines, and he *has* to bring four of them with him to nap and bedtime -- always Thomas and Percy in his right hand and Skarloey and the bus in his left hand.  And while he's getting better about sharing toys with his little sister, he's still very possessive about his precious trains, so we often hear "No, Sophia, no!  That's Joshua's Thomas!!"

All of that to say -- we were pretty sure he would really enjoy himself at a Thomas-themed excursion.  :)  Apparently, there's a traveling exhibit that goes around to various railroads around the country every year with a full-sized engine built to look like Thomas.  And they came up to Phillipsburg, NJ over the July 4th weekend!  We bought our tickets a month ago, and started talking it all up to Joshua a couple days before we went.  It was about an hour's drive up, and the whole way there, Joshua would exclaim, "We're going to see Thomas, and Sir Topham Hatt, and maybe Percy and maybe Gordon!!"





It was an incredibly hot day -- mid to high 90s with high humidity.  And unfortunately, nothing was air-conditioned.  So our kiddos were sweaty and a little out of sorts by the time we made it from the parking lot over to the train... But once we sat down in the passenger car and I broke out the water and snacks, they were both in a much more receptive mood.  And once the train started moving, Joshua was transfixed!



The one blurry photo I have as evidence that Sophia and I were there, too:


And the best shot I have of Joshua with Thomas:


After the train ride, we were on a mission to find juice for the wee emperor.  I thought nothing would be able to distract him from this purpose, but I underestimated the siren call of the model train displays...




And then we wandered around a bit and finally found him some juice.  :)




All in all, it was such a fun day!  Joshua enjoyed himself, though we think he's still maybe just a touch too young to fully appreciate it all... I think David may have had the most fun of all of us.  :)  It was so sweet to see father and son sharing in their excitement over trains.  Both David and Joshua want to go back again next year, so we'll have to make this an annual family trip!