Day Out with Thomas

Today, we went to Lakeville and saw Thomas the Tank Engine. We saw him last year in Stillwater and had a great time so we got tickets to go this year as well. Today turned out to be the only day we were free (while Thomas was in town) otherwise, we would have liked to go next weekend when my cousin is in town. In case you've never heard of this wonderful event, we basically saw a real train-sized Thomas that was hooked up to another train. We got tickets to ride on the train so it's just like we're actually riding on Thomas. Anyway, conveniently enough, my parents live really close to where Thomas was going to be so we met my parents and brother for breakfast beforehand. We ended up getting done with breakfast WAY earlier than we thought we would and my mom offered to take Hannah home with her so we just had Caleb and a lot of time on our hands. We went to the Thomas depot early because we knew that it's like a "Thomas Festival" and there is always a lot to see and do there. Turns out, when Caleb gets excited about something, his hearing shuts off! Who knew? We were stuck at a Thomas place with nothing to keep Caleb entertained for an hour and he was running amok!! He was running onto tents that other kids were playing in and knocking it down in the process; he was climbing on the Lego Thomas before it was his turn and stepping on kids' hands. Not to mention, the running around and not listening to Chris and I holler "STOP!!" Chris and I were getting frustrated and where do we go when we get frustrated?? CARIBOU!! (It's a coffee shop.) We brought Caleb back to the car and drove around until we found a Caribou. At first, Caleb was kicking and screaming, but we explained that he was not being a good listener and therefore, would have to wait to ride on Thomas. (Little did he know we had an hour to kill before we could board the train.) Caleb is a really good boy and he's usually an exceptional listener, so the whole time in the truck on our way to Caribou and back he was saying "I'll be a good listener now. Guess what? I'm a good listener! Can we got back and ride Thomas now???" We got back to the "festival" just in time to hop on the train. Caleb had his first encounter with a Porto-potty before we got on the train, so we were quite surprised to hear him say "I have to go to the bathroom" as soon as the train started moving. Oops!! Caleb has never had to "hold it" so Chris and I were very nervous that an accident would occur. Luckily, the boy was able to hold it for over 20 minutes until the train ride was over and we RAN back to the Porto-potties so he could go. No accidents!! Whoo-hoo!! Unfortunately, because of our need to run to the bathrooms, we missed standing in line to get a picture with Thomas. That's okay with us since we weren't really in any mood to stand in a long line at the time. We left right after that with no souvenirs, but if you've seen Caleb and his bedroom, you know that he DOES NOT need anymore Thomas merchandise. :)

Here are some pictures from today:

Caleb showing off his Thomas tattoo:



The Lego Thomas (very cool!):



A picture of Thomas himself:



This picture is kind of strange--I know. I just wanted to show you that we sat on the upper-deck of the train. It was really neat!!



A very happy boy who had a great day!