A Day Out with Thomas {2013}

This past Sunday, Brian and I took Katelyn to "A Day Out with Thomas" in the Cuyahoga Valley. It was, in a word, awesome! Truthfully, Katelyn isn't watching a ton of Thomas these days (because she's too busy checking out every other show on Netflix doing other stuff) so we weren't all that sure how she would receive the experience. But we talked it up all week, and by Sunday she was pretty pumped up. As soon as we walked onto the grounds, all our worries were put to rest. This was the real deal! It was a really elaborate set-up, totally family-oriented, and full of things to do. And the best part- Thomas was there, pulling the Cuyahoga Valley Line! It really was a sight to see, and Katelyn was beyond thrilled. It didn't hurt that she already considers that train "Thomas" from all our biking endeavors every year. But seeing the real Thomas at the front of the train made it even more exciting.

There was a "playground" area (as Katelyn called it) full of bounce houses that was out of sight! It was pretty much impossible to capture any pics, because Katelyn was moving a mile a minute, but she had a blast! It was a little unnerving for her parents to watch her bouncing around with kids up to twice her age, but she handled it like a champ. Any time she got knocked down she just popped back up and got back to the business of having fun. Nothing keeps our little spark plug down!

Waiting in line to board Thomas!

All aboard!

Katelyn's Jr. Engineer Certificate. Never mind that it's written out for some indecipherable version of her name- Catley...? The octogenarian Conductor that filled it out was really very lovely... and I'm quite certain he mis-spelled the name of every child on board:) The mom across the way and I got a good chuckle out of it!

Two peas-in-a-pod

Thomas!

Something must have been stinky;) Let's be honest, I'm just happy her finger isn't actually up her nose. That seems to be the move these days. Normal for toddlers, I know. But icky, just the same:)

Checking out a huge and awesome model train set-up. It was the Island of Sodor, come to life!!

After Thomas, we took Katelyn out to dinner at "The Lizard Restaurant"- a.k.a., The Winking Lizard. Katelyn pretty much associates "looking for Thomas" (which is what we call our big bike rides) with eating at the Lizard Restaurant. It was really fun to get to take her back on a Daddy, Mama, KK date.

So, I kept trying to get a cute pic of her at the table, but I kept getting these, and I couldn't understand it...

Until, finally, Brian said, "Babe, it really is a pretty bright light!" and took a picture so I could experience it. Yeah, that's a bright light! Moms are so annoying;)

Saying good-bye to the Lizard:)

OK, prepare yourself for an onslaught of pictures here. Our walk back to the car was the perfect weather, the perfect light and, well, the perfect KK. She was having so much fun, and I just kept taking pics. Some of them are a little blurry because she is such a bundle of energy, but they really capture Katelyn in all her glory, so I had to include them. And I really did narrow it down quite a bit;)

Love these two so much:)

And for anyone who was wondering, no, we didn't forget about Maddie:) We were sooo lucky that Grandma was willing and able to watch her while we went out to see Thomas. It was a special day for the three of us to be together, and we were so happy that Maddie was having her own special day back home. Thank you so much, Grandma!