Thomas the Tank Engine

Another steam engine parked in the yard













This is the face of pure, unbridled joy.
Riding the train

We have known that Thomas the tank engine made annual visits to the Heber Valley for a few years but we did not anticipate that we would one day have a son that is completely enthralled with trains. Of course Thomas has everything to do with this. The funny thing is we don't even know how he got hooked on it. I think we were flipping through channels one morning and landed on PBS for too long or something. (Honestly, I'm not sure what is so enchanting about it, the show is really pretty boring.) But the love affair continues just as strong today as ever. We don't leave home without packing a train or two along and while Wow Wow Wubbzy is currently giving Thomas a run for Jack's favorite show to watch, nothing gets playtime like his trains. They get as much use as a construction site port-a-john if not more. So of course we were not going to let Thomas come and go without paying a visit.

Sarah has diligently planned on today for a very long time and she executed with surgical precision. We drove down to Heber this morning and met up with the Willits family to spend a day out with Thomas. By the way I wish I was in the Thomas business, these people have to be making a killing of of this stuff. It was kind of like a carnival centered on Thomas and his counterparts from the majestic island of Sodor. Sir Toppham Hatt was even there chubbin' it up. (In real life don't you think that Mr. Hatt would be like the jerk of an industrialist who runs the town and ruthlessly crushes anyone who crosses him, like Mr. Potter to George Bailey?) They had a petting zoo (complete with a biting pony, and baby camel that, no joke, peed for like 3 straight minutes), decal tattoos, balloon animals, bubble blowing, movies, train sets, a Dugger family style bluegrass band and of course a ride on Thomas' train.

It really was a lot of fun and Thomas was legit. I always thought that they just kind of jerry rigged an existing engine to look like Thomas but this was a dedicated engine (or really more of a car, I don't think it was doing anything but enjoying the ride). It was awesome. I think that everyone really enjoyed it a lot, but of course there was nothing more entertaining than watching Jack watch T-bone roll the rails.

It all worked out so well. We got to do everything that was there, wore the kids out in time for naps and finished just as it was starting to rain.