A Day Out With Thomas

I come from a long line of train lovers.  Serious train lovers.  My brother, Brent, works for Montana Rail Link in Missoula, has been published in multiple train magazines (both for articles and photographs), and belongs to a group of men that "chase" trains around the state snapping photos on their tripods.  I'm not kidding you and I'm just getting started.  Brent acquired this love from my dad who is equally a train buff if not more.  He LOVES trains.  He has an elaborate train board set up in the basement with the original Lionel trains from his childhood that are over 70 years old.  He dragged my family on too many "train hikes" throughout my childhood along the defunct Milwaukee railroad tracks (R.I.P.) up on the Snoqualmie Pass, subscribes to multiple train magazines, gets lost on the car ride home from my house due to frequent stops at the Auburn train yard, and can talk to any conductor or engineer for hours due to his endless curiosity and questions about trains.  My dad acquired this love from my grandpa who actually bought my dad's Lionel trains when he was still a baby so that my grandpa could play with them for a few years before my father was old enough to receive them as Christmas gifts.
Needless to say, I come from a long line of train lovers.  So, it should come as NO surprise that Mr. Logan fell in love with choo choos around Christmas time.  He LOVES them.  Going to grandpa's house has become Logan's favorite thing to do so that he can see his favorite person (grandpa) and watch him run the choos choos on the train board.  In addition, we still have an active train track that runs right through our downtown....so we get to see them on a regular basis and can hear their whistle daily at our house.  Logan gets so excited whenever we see them.  Heck, I now get so excited whenever I see them because I love watching his reaction.  In fact, I now find myself wishing for a sighting every single time we drive through a certain spot in town that parallels the train tracks.  As a result of this obsession, Logan took to Thomas the Train like a fish to water when I first popped in a DVD that I had purchased online a few months ago.  It was love at first sight.  And when I saw a commercial for a Day Out With Thomas on this DVD, I immediately remembered seeing one nine years ago when Ron and I were staying at the Salish Lodge the day after we got married.  So, I knew that one came to our area years ago and hoped that it still did.  I hopped online and found out that indeed a Thomas the Train still comes through the little town of Snoqulamie every July!  I was thrilled and quickly bought tickets for our little family to go, plus Lola who would be visiting from Chicago.  After months of waiting, the day finally arrived today and off we went to ride our favorite tank engine.  As you can imagine, Logan was so excited.

Logan, Lia, Lola, and mamma all heading into the event together.

Posing with Lia and Logan and a real train.

Logan loved the tent full of little train sets that they allowed the children to play with.  He wandered around several tables and tried them out.

I could barely get Logan to look up at me he was so focused on the trains.

The REAL Thomas the Train Engine pulling up to the station!

Lia and Logan climbing into the Thomas bounce house for a quick go before boarding the train.

Lia jumping up and down.

All aboard!  Logan, Lia, and Lola waiting for the train to depart. 

My little engineer complete with his Thomas t-shirt and hat ready to go.

Ella trying out Logan's hat after he decided that he was done with it.

A close-up of my cutie during the train ride.

Posing with the real thing after our ride was complete.  What a fun day for Logan!