Day Out with Thomas

Yesterday we headed to "Day Out with Thomas" in Spencer, NC. That's about 40 minutes from my parents house, so we drove there on Saturday and got to spend the day with my Nana (who's 91) who is visiting from Austin, my aunt Barbara who is visiting from California, my parents, and Doug, Lynette, and Ada who drove there to hang out for the day. It was a very nice visit. It was my aunt Barbara's first time meeting all of my kids, so that was neat. I'm sure the house was nice and peaceful and quiet before the 4 grandkids bombarded the place. Then it was like total chaos practically all day long. Brynn wasn't really even part of the chaos and Lynette is pregnant with another girl. What will it be like when there are 2 more crazy kids??? I'll have to start drinking earlier in the day.

So anyway, back to our Thomas visit. Like every other outdoor family activity we embark on, it rained. At least it wasn't the thundering, lightning, might-possibly-die-in-this-storm kind of rain like we got at Carowinds. Actually, we did get an hour or 2 of no rain. Unfortunately that was the time period we were inside. When it was time for lunch (all of the vendors were outside) and time for our train ride on Thomas (where you wait in line outside), THAT'S when it was raining. At least we were prepared this time with rain coats and umbrella's. And I dressed the kids warmly since I knew the cold front was coming through. Unfortunately, Brynn decided to have a blow out while hanging out in the front carrier, and the only thing I had for her was an extra onesie. So here we all were with our coats and jeans and our 4 month old wearing just a short sleeve shirt. And I couldn't put her in the stoller because we're not the "cool" parents who purchase a waterproof zipper-liner-thing for the stroller (seriously, how often do people use those things?). So she was in the front carrier safe from the rain under the umbrella, but freezing. Oh well. I do have to say though that the baby changing area at the Thomas Day was pretty impressive. They had this conference room set up with a bunch of tables each with a big thick pad and a paper covering each pad. Then they had wipes, baby powder, and Purell at each station. Not only that, but they had DIAPERS! 6 neat bins, one for each size 1 through 6. But...no extra pair of pants.

Despite the rain, I think the kids really liked their visit to Thomas. Ethan of course was deathly afraid of Sir Topham Hatt, but was comforted by the fact that Sir Topham Hatt had to stay in the same place all day. Ethan loved looking at the model trains and then looking through all the big trains.

Blythe really enjoyed the magic show and the music show. She said the music show was her favorite thing. They let the kids play instruments to the songs and it's pretty neat. Ethan particpated on the song where they play the bongo drums, otherwise he sat back and watched.

We looked at old cars at the museum and then after lunch we took our ride on the Thomas train, which is about a 25 minute train ride. Ethan said that was his favorite part. The kids got certificates to commemorate their experience.

Brynn was a trooper the whole time and never cried or complained (until she got hungry) and stayed awake the whole time. All 3 kids were asleep within 15 minutes of being in the car and they all slept almost all the way back to Blacksburg. Nice!