A Day Out With Thomas

After cleaning up Joshua's party on Saturday, September 17, I went on Craig's List and saw cheap tickets for a Day Out with Thomas. There were four tickets for the price of what one would normally cost. That said, they had been advertised much earlier in the day and typically things like that are snatched up immediately. Since they were still being advertised, though, I thought I'd give it a chance. I emailed the link provided and gave my phone number and told her that I'd love to take my kids but would never pay full prices to take all of us. They are SO expensive! I didn't hear anything that night, so I thought maybe I had missed out. BUT... the following day - Joshua's actual birthday - I received a phone call from a nice older lady, who said the tickets were ours if we'd like them!

She explained that she didn't realize that she bought them for a Friday during the day. She & her husband work, and her one grandchild is in school. She couldn't exchange them or get a refund (printed right on the tickets) so she tried to give them away to her son (who's now older with his own children) who couldn't go, cousins who couldn't go, and even some co-workers. No one could go on a weekday. Her cousin told her about trying Craig's List, and this was her first experience. She said when she got my email saying that I had boys, she remembered her own two boys who would have loved this event, and she decided to choose me even though I wasn't first to ask for them. I was sincerely blessed - God had answered my prayers! While the two older boys and Shawn napped the afternoon of Joshua's birthday, I took Ryan with me to New Holland where I met the woman and exchanged the cash for the tickets. I was tickled! She was very sweet and it was a great transaction all around.

Then I thought about who would be a good fourth person to give a ticket to. Shawn couldn't go along; he had to work. My dad was in GA. My mom had a house guest for the week. I thought of giving it to a friend, but then I realized that any friend would have to pay full price for the additional tickets, which are extremely expensive. So, I decided to ask my sister Becky. I told her that I would give her the free ticket if she could take off work and help me with the little guys. I didn't expect her to say yes, but she did! She said she could make up the time at work and would love to see the boys enjoying themselves. And she was very helpful.

The weather report called for torrential downpours with flooding. The boys & I prayed against rain since we had plans the whole weekend. I told God that it was most important that it didn't rain for our vacation to D.C. but it would be so nice for the boys to enjoy their time out at Thomas, too. Well, we woke up to rain on Friday. It was only drizzling, and my sister called and said she was still fine to go. I was absolutely going either way - we had tickets! We got there and had to park off-site this time, no where near the actual event. We parked at the Historic Strasburg Inn and rode a shuttle school bus to the event. This was a major hassle with strollers. On the way there, a man loaded the stroller for me, but I still had Ryan in his car seat (the combo makes a pretty good screen against the rain) and it was terribly difficult to maneuver the car seat in these small spaces like the stairs and aisle, etc. But, we made it!

The first ride we did was the small coal train. Aunt Becky stood with Ryan as I took the boys on the little train ride. She got under an overhang as the heavens let loose. I was immediately soaked through to my underpants, even with my raincoat on. I knew the boys were in the same boat. Joshua at first looked startled, nervous and a little not-cool with the rain. Here's where I knew he was watching for my cues. I smiled wide, laughed out loud and said "Hey, how cool! We get to play in the rain, too! Bonus!" I continued to joke about needing soap for our shower, etc. I told them they could splash in puddles as long as there weren't people around who would get wet from them. From that moment on, neither kid complained about the rain. And, the downpour went back to a typical shower/sprinkle in a few minutes.

Once the coal car ride was done, we grabbed Aunt Becky and said we'd like to head to the cranky cars. There wasn't a soul there (everyone else had run for cover), and Caleb Luke grabbed a cranky car and went around the track, even with the rain pounding him. I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but that is a HUGE SMILE on his face. He loved it! And the rain wasn't putting him out at all. When Joshua saw his little brother thoroughly enjoying himself, he grabbed the next one (the worker was there to help them, of course). I asked her if Aunt Becky & the baby could come under her tent (inside the work area) and she said yes. So, they were shielded from the rain as the boys rode and rode and rode these cranky cars. No lines with the rain!

As the downpour let up, a few kids saw us and jumped in line, so the boys would go around to get back in line and still get to go again almost immediately. They went around at least a half a dozen times.

Eventually, we decided to keep exploring. Another gentleman had come to work in this area and didn't like that we were hanging out under the tent with them. It wasn't a big deal, so we just kept moving. We walked around for a bit, and then decided to hang out at the one covered area to eat some snacks that I had packed: apple slices, grapes, string cheese and crackers.

While we were there, they started calling for us (our ticket time) to line up for the train. This is the only time I got Ryan out of his car seat. I realized at that moment that I had left his rain coat behind. WHOOPS! I had gotten it out and left it. He was dry from being shielded in the stroller, but I couldn't take the stroller in line with us. It wasn't pouring at the time, but my rain coat was sopping wet. Literally, I could have wrung it out and filled glasses of water. He got wet just from being against us, and he wasn't too excited about it. But, it didn't matter since his big brothers were all smiles! They were so excited to ride on Thomas!

Caleb has talked about nothing else for days! He loved getting to ride the rides and see Thomas and meet Sir Topham Hatt.

Aunt Becky would hold Ryan when I needed to get something out (like snacks or tickets) and hold the boys' hands when needed as we were walking. She also surprised me in that she didn't seem to mind the rain. If she would have been grumpy or complaining, it would have been a downer as well. But, she said when we got there "I just planned on getting wet today." That was that! And wet we were! But, we were excited for the kiddos.

As we stood in line, a nice lady in front of us and another gentleman later offered to let us stand under their umbrella with the baby. Thank you, God, for the kindness of strangers. We need to buy an umbrella! I typically think of them as a hassle to carry and maneuver, but I could have used one that day!

Soon enough, they called "All aboard!" We climbed on and found our seats. The Bean sat with me. I took a bottle of expressed milk for Ryan. I wasn't sure how nursing would go there, and a bottle is easier for public places. He ate it okay, even though it was just a couple ounces. I fed him more when we got home.

Caleb sat with Aunt Becky. The train ride isn't long, and we opted not to even let them take our pictures since I knew how much they cost to purchase. The conductor came around and took our tickets which were soaked. :) The boys loved looking out the windows and riding in the train, etc. It was fun.

After the ride was finished (and it's a short ride for Thomas days!), Aunt Becky took the older boys to meet Thomas. There's a short window of opportunity while the next passengers are boarding. When he pulls away, your time is up! But, with the weather, there weren't very many lines to do anything. In the meantime, I walked around the other way with our Schnook since this was another area that didn't allow strollers and I didn't want him to get any more wet. Caleb was in awe that Thomas' eyes move on the train!

We continued to press on because Joshua really wanted to meet Sir Topham Hatt. Years past, we've never done this (or met Thomas) because of the outrageously long lines. So, we went... only to find that he was on his lunch break. Luckily enough, he was supposed to return in less than 10 minutes. So, Aunt Becky took the older boys on another little train ride to pass the time while I stayed with Ryan this time. She even took pictures for me. :)

They came back and Sir Topham Hatt still wasn't back yet. Another family or two lined up behind us. Then, he returned! We were first in line. Caleb went up to him and gave him a high five (so did Joshua). BUT, Caleb did not want to get in the picture or have Sir Topham Hatt put his arm around him. So, he came back down with me as I snapped Joshua's picture with him. They got certificates that said they officially met Sir Topham Hatt and Thomas.

There was more to do there - train tables set up in tents, craft stations, and play times. But, Ryan had been good all day and was now starting to get hungry and tired. We were also soaked. I told the boys that it was time to go back to the bus and back to our minivan. Joshua was sad. But, I was glad we made the right call. As we headed back, the heavens let loose again. This time we noticed that it felt a little chillier (all morning we said how thankful we were that the temperature had been in the upper 70s so even though we were wet, we weren't freezing). Now, we were starting to get a little cold. We didn't wait long for the shuttle bus, but their system for strollers fell apart. A guy put my stroller behind us rather than toward the front of the bus where they belonged, since folks were sitting in the 'stroller seats.' I slid going up the stairs (with Ryan in hand!) and almost fell backward out of the bus. Everything was wet, and buses aren't made for car seats. When we got back, Becky & I had to get everything off including the stroller. She was a big help in getting the stroller where I could get it from her as we made our way back. We were literally skating on the bus with how wet and slippery the surface was! Then Caleb tried to run off in the parking lot and she got him and had him come back to hold hands. At that moment, I realized how glad I was that she was there. She had been helpful the whole day, but I don't think I could have done the last ten minutes without her (or some sort of helper).

When we rode home, the boys both fell asleep. I dropped Aunt Becky off at her car (we had combined at Rockvale Outlets), and she went into work while I headed home. It was after 1 pm until we got back. When the boys started peeling off the layers of coats and clothing, they both cried at how wet they were. We didn't realize how soaked we were until we were home, praise God! They had such a blast that the water didn't matter until we were home. We all got new undergarments and sweat pants on, along with comfy t-shirts. Then they went to bed while I tried to dry their sneakers (which were still soaked when we left that night to head to Mamaw's house). The boys napped for HOURS! I had to wake them to leave for dinner. I think they were beat from our fun day. But, they told anyone and everyone all about their experience. It had been a really fun day, and we got to do more than typical because there weren't lines with the rain. I was so thankful we had been blessed with the cheaper tickets. Thank you, God, for fun times and for family! Bye-bye, Thomas!