Her Thomas the Train Obsession

My little girl is in love with Thomas the Train. That's right, my little GIRL! I expected to be playing with baby dolls, tea sets, ponies, and princesses right now. But we play trains. It could be worse. I've dodged the Dora the Explorer craze, Yo Gabba Gabba insanity, and other characters that Sprout, Nickelodeon, and Disney have tried to lure my child into. At least Thomas is not annoying (for the most part) and teaches good character lessons. So, I'm not complaining!

The love for Thomas all started when Samantha met a friend named Jake at her daycare. Jake liked Thomas, so Samantha did too. That's cute, whatever! So, I bought her a few engines and we played trains on the coffee table. Shortly after, Jake left daycare to attend a new preschool and I thought Sam's love for Thomas would begin to fade...nope.

Over the last eight months or so my little girl's love for Thomas has only grown. She has acquired more engines...and a bunch of other Thomas stuff. (you could spend a fortune) When asked what she wants to watch on TV, she'll answer "Thomas"! She has learned a majority of the engines' names, and a few key phrases from the shows. She cracks me up when she talks about "being a useful engine" or "bust my buffers". She sings along to the songs. She even makes up stories about Thomas and Percy and James. She sleeps with her Thomas blankie and Percy pillow every night. Her trains are the first and the last thing she plays with every day. Samantha loves her Thomas.

So when we heard about A Day Out With Thomas, we bought tickets. I was so excited. I knew she was going to love to see, in person, her favorite train.
It was about an hour and a half drive up to the railway museum in Perris, CA. We left early in the morning and dressed for the rainy forecast. Please God, don't let it rain on us! I had been looking forward to this day for months. We told Samantha it was a "special day". You can't tell a two year old anything in advance. They don't understand time tables or the joy of expectation. They live in the moment, so we waited to tell her where we were going until we got there. As we pulled into the parking lot, she was excited to see other "children" on a "special day" too. We walked onto the railway museum grounds, showed our tickets and went to find Thomas. As we walked over the bridge above the railway tracks, she caught sight of him. Awe, confusion, fear, and... excitement!!! Her little mind had a hard time grasping the sight. A full sized Thomas the Train!

It was a fun family day. The event included a train ride, pictures with Thomas, a tent full of toy tracks and trains for the kids to play, an exhibit of model trains, petting zoo, jump houses, music, food, and more!

Samantha's favorite part was playing with the toy trains, she gets so engrossed in it. She also really enjoyed watching the model trains. She had never seen anything like it before and was amazed.

Of course these types of things are always interesting with a two year old. The depth of understanding is iffy. She knows Thomas as a cartoon figure on TV and a 2-3 inch toy train that she pushes around on a coffee table. Then you introduce her to a full sized train engine. She had a hard time understanding why she couldn't walk up to it and touch it, and ride it. We did take a ride in a passenger car pulled by Thomas, but I don't think that clicked for her.

All in all, it was a great day! The rain held off. Not one drop. What a blessing! Samantha was a good girl and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her on her "special day". Samantha had a great time. Everything was about Thomas and trains! She was in heaven!!!

We want to do a Day Out With Thomas again next year. I'm hoping that Samantha continues to love her trains for awhile longer.

Christmas is coming up...guess what Santa is bringing my little girl?