The weekend after Emma's birthday we took a family outing to the "Day out with Thomas" events that happen each September at the Colorado Railroad Museum. I had heard of this event a few years ago, just in time to find out the tickets were all sold out already (probably the year Evan was 2). Then last year I completely spaced it, and so this year when I remembered in August I jumped at getting us tickets! I figured both kids would be a good age for it as well.
When we arrived we first had to get the kids pictures inside the Percy cardboard cut outs...there was a Thomas one, but both kids chose to look through and "be" Percy.
Then we went on to find Thomas. We were an hour early for our train ride pulled by Thomas (per the recommendations on our tickets), and I know I was anxious to see what Thomas really looked like and I couldn't wait for the kids to first see him too! We found the train that was being loaded full of passengers for the first ride of the day and followed it up to the front to see that famous blue engine. The kids were pretty excited, and I was too! I couldn't wait to see him start up his engine and get moving. Sadly, though, I didn't think about how loud it would be standing right by the engines (including the big black steam engine that really did the work, which was the first to blow it's horn, then Thomas did his famous "toot"). The train horns startled Emma really bad and she eventually started crying and wanted to be held. After Thomas took off for a trip around the museum with the first group of passengers, we decided to start exploring the rest of the museum. We found some toy trains and then a tent with train tables for the kids to play. Evan got right to playing with all the trains, and so did Emma until Thomas came around again and blew his horn nearby. That startled her really bad (I saw her visibly jump and tremble from the surprise sound, especially because inside that tent you didn't see him coming!) so once again she needed to be held and calmed.
Happiness and sheer excitement at our first sitings of Thomas!
Holding their ears in case the trains blew their horns again.
After about 30 minutes of exploring part of the museum, it was time for us to make our way to get on board the train for our ticketed time to ride. We were so concerned with hoping for a shaded train car, that we didn't think about which side to sit on, and since it turns out the train just goes in a circular loop, we were on the "wrong side" if you wanted to get photos of Thomas pulling the train without people on the other side of the train car in all of the photos! Oh well...just know that for next time! We managed to get a family photo of the four of us just before the train got going. Then we rode the train around the museum loop 4 times, one of which we stopped at the water tank to refill the steam engine!
See Thomas pulling us, right next to some strangers head? Emma is definitely not pointing at Thomas, but not sure what she saw.
There's Thomas ahead pulling our train (and some other people in the way too)! ;)
Evan wore appropriate attire for the occasion. :)
Emma was sure to keep her ears covered if things got too loud.
After our ride, we found where Sir Topham Hatt was posing for photos. However, we got there just when he was going on a break. :) So we went into some nearby buildings to explore more. In the basement of one Evan found a mock train engine for him to drive. He loved playing in that. The same basement area had a huge toy train set up with Thomas and Percy pulling some loads. There were some coloring activities upstairs where the kids made a fan cut out of Percy as well.
All aboard the train driven by Evan the Engineer!
After awhile we headed back outside to meet Sir Topham Hatt, but it was really quite hot now. These hot late summer (technically early autumn) days we've been having are making it quite uncomfortable doing outdoor activities! We let the kids snack on a bench in the shade while John stood in line in the scorching sun. When it was nearly our turn, we went over to meet up with John in the line and that's when the kids started to freak out about not wanting to meet Sir Topham Hatt anymore! Heck no, we didn't just have John wait in that line for nothing, so off we went to meet him with each kid being carried against their will! Emma, in particular, cried and didn't want to go near him. I had to stand with her on the side of me away from him. We posed for a quick photo (they did professional ones at this attraction) and then just got it over with quick. As we walked away, Emma started waving at him and saying bye. Sure, her shyness wears off quick once she knows she's leaving!
These are the proofs of the photos that were taken of us. None good enough to order for the prices being charged. Evan looks super cute in the first one (left), but I'm not "photo ready" given I was trying to calm Emma. Emma is still not happy in the second (right) either.
The rest of our visit included a photo by the snowplow train, then a stop at the petting zoo, where Emma was too terrified to be near the animals or let them touch her. So we took her out and let Evan and John stay in together to feed them. Evan loved it! He wasn't afraid at all and loved interacting with all of the animals. Emma, however, was standing at the fence watching and then one came up to her when she wasn't looking at it licked her fingers through the fence. That started up her waterworks again. She is definitely in a phase of having lots of fears, and it seems this particular outing brought out most all of them in one place! My arms were getting tired carrying her so much!
Evan loved feeding the animals!
Then Evan climbed on a real fire truck for a bit, and then we took a photo while Thomas passed behind us. Soon after that time was when we lost Emma (the most terrifying moment I've had yet as a parent!). One moment she was right there, and the next she was gone. We were in somewhat of an open area too, so the fact that John nor I could see her anywhere was especially terrifying. I went one way and John the other to start looking for her. I was calling out her name and then eventually started asking people that I passed if they'd seen a little girl in a pink skirt. The panic in my mind was real. While this may have only lasted a minute or two, it seemed like forever. Finally John found her, in the tent with the train tables. I admit, I cried a bit after that...just too much emotion went through my body in less than 5 minutes that I couldn't contain it. For a girl who was afraid of so many things this day, she didn't hesitate to run off and then in return gave me a fright of my own!
There goes Thomas behind us!
We finished the day by spending some time in the (shade of the) music tent. There was a magician just finishing his routine when we headed in there to cool down in the shade. Then the musician started and Emma enjoyed bouncing around on my lap to the music. We listened to a few songs before we decided we were done for the day. It had been an earlier morning than usual for all of us getting out of the house to get to the museum an hour before our train ride, and now that the sun was high in the sky and beaming down and roasting us, it was time to get home and call it a day.
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