Day Out with Thomas

Anyone who has met, seen, or heard of Jonah probably knows that he has a deep love affair with trains. Namely Thomas and ALL of his friends. It should come as no surprise then that when Thomas was coming to Tweetsie on his annual tour, we got our tickets reserved nice and early. I knew Jonah was gonna love it, but I was not prepared for his level of joy, or my own. Watching him go through the day so utterly happy made my own heart happier than I could have anticipated.

We got to the park just after opening time and had tickets for the 2nd train of the day. ("Why not the first train of the day", you ask? Because this obsessive mama had to get him the official "I Spent the Day Out with Thomas" t-shirt to wear first!! I put it on him immediately. "Surely he already has a Thomas shirt, doesn't he?" Yes. But not a commemorative one!) After getting the fore-mentioned, necessary, shirt we took a family photo with the Big Guy and headed to the train.

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Normally the Tweetsie train ride makes a couple of stops along the way for little Cowboy and Indian skits. Not when Thomas is in town though! It's all about the train ride itself for these fans! There was only 1 small skit and Thomas saved the day!

 

There was plenty more Thomas and Friends things to do besides the train ride itself. The "saloon" housed huge train tables to play at. They were swarming with like minded, train enthusiasts like my Jonah. There were also free tattoos and pages to color, and a poster of the Diesels(!!!) to pose with!

 

 

Jonah also got to do a meet and greet with the "fat controller" himself (that's actually what they sometimes refer to him as in the movies...), Sir Topham Hatt.

 

The bouncy house and inflatable slide were nearby. The height of the slide didn't freak him out going up, just coming down. On the belly was his compromise.

We took a moment to pose as a gang of conductors (This year's Christmas card???) and then sat down to watch Thomas roll by.

 

One last joyful ride on the train and it was time to head home. It was such a special day for Jonah, but I think it will live on to be more memorable for me as his mama. It was a combination of a lot of factors I'm sure but, his passion for Thomas, his age and ability to appreciate such a day, and the blessing of being able to give it to him made it one for the memory books for sure.