How it is nowadays: Mystery trip

It's hard to believe that it was a whole year ago that we first took the boys to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Remember this photo? PJ was only about 17 months old. Too young to remember.

One of the benefits of having kids who wake at the ~~butt~~ crack of dawn is that we can frequently do early morning outings in the cool of the day and be back home in time for lunch and naps. We're out at parks or the mall well before the crowds arrive. With three boys, another favorite spot is the nearby Strasburg Railroad, where we'll walk around and watch the engineers get ready for a day on the rails. The most thrilling part is watching the steam engines fill with coal and water and pull into the station to couple up to the passenger cars. The engineers are so kind and friendly. It's free entertainment and the boys love pointing out the knuckle, dome, whistle, and coal tenders.

(We know all the terms already going in.)

Can you name that movie?

Anyway, I knew Thomas was coming to Strasburg soon, and when I looked it up online last night, I realized he was there NOW. So this morning, I told the boys we were taking a Mystery Trip right after breakfast and we went to see him.

As we got close (but not too close) Jack recognized the route as being the one we take to go to the railroad. So by the time we got there, they knew where we were headed, and were excited enough about watching the engines, but they still did not know that Thomas was going to be there.

I love surprising them like that. They were both so excited.

Totally made it worth the fact that I didn't have time to take a shower.

We were able to snap a few pictures with Thomas as they were cleaning him up before he pulled into the station.

Only the two Thomases were looking at me, despite my twenty seven "Look at Mommy!" requests.

Finally, a kind father saw my plight and said, "Hey, boys - look over here!"

(Kids, are you noticing all this plight? **gun shots** Roll 'em up!)

Can you name that movie?

Would have been nice if he were standing near me, but ah, well. At least I can see their faces.

I can't tell you how much I love these ones of them posing by the train. PJ's "cheese" always has me in hysterics.

I love how all three of my boys have, as babies, just sort of put their feet up on the stroller and lounge. It cracks me up.

After getting a few small Thomas-related items in the shop (because we do not have enough of those already), it was time to see Sir Topham Hatt in all his splendor. PJ was so excited while we were waiting in line. "I'm going to give him a hug!" he kept saying.

Then he saw him.

He wasn't quite as normal-looking as PJ had imagined and he was more than a little uneasy, but he did give him a hug. We had the option of buying pictures from the station photographer or giving the aid our camera and having her snap a few pictures. I figured I'd take my chances with package B. Here's what we got, completely unedited.

I love how that realistic-looking tarp in the background makes it look like we're really on the island of Sodor. I think she realized that maybe the grommets across the top are not really supposed to be in the picture, and then came these two:

Jack is all business. He's not about to mess up his chances at being an actual conductor with the Sodor Railway. If he can just nail this encounter with the big guy, then he's a shoo-in.

I kept telling them that PJ's name was "PJ" (which, I believe I was actually in the process of saying when this picture was being taken). Still, they continued to call, "DJ? TJ? Look, TJ!"