Spring Break, Part 3 - A Day Out with Thomas

So Brother, finally got his day after waiting patiently through the princess luncheon. We loaded the car up and headed down to lovely Parrish, Florida (South of Tampa, I had no clue where it was either) to go see Thomas the Train. Brother is obsessed with trains, especially Thomas. We had heard good things about these tour stops, mostly from the stops in Camille, Georgia, and Mount Dora, Florida (near Orlando). Well, lets just say that Parrish, Florida had a little different vibe and clientele than what we were expecting from the stories of the other stops. Don't get me wrong we had a good time and Brother and CarCar were in heaven with the trains, but there could have been some improvements made to the venue. First of all the organizers could have chooses a location that had grass and was not just a dirt field. As you can imagine a dirt field and lots of children don't mix to well. Next the train cars that they hooked the Thomas engine up to looked to date from sometime close to the invention of rail service. Lets just say that 90 degree temps and an old school rail car that most of the windows didn't open equaled a stifling ride. We could have ridden in the converted circus animal car that was directly behind Thomas but we were not one of the 'lucky' 70 people on that one. Oh yea, those lucky 70 some how got wet from some sort of mysterious water on the roof of the car, it was very strange.

After our stops at the temporary tattoo station (and I mean 2 minutes temporary), the train table tent, the bubble pools (a brilliant idea, especially with the dirt that surrounded us), and the train, Rian, Reese and I headed over to meet Sir Topham Hatt. I was a little worried that Reese would freak out, but apparently we broke him in with meeting the bunny at Animal Kingdom. He absolutely loved meeting Sir Topham Hatt. After that little rendezvous we headed over to get a picture with Thomas and hit the souvenir tent. After that we rounded the Critters up and jumped back in the car for our trek back to Orlando. All in all the Critters had a great time, Brother especially. I can tell you that we have been playing trains everyday since.

Here are some shots from the day:

This nice old man let the Critters come behind the barricades for a better view of the train set.

Haddie and her temporary tattoo.

Close up.

CarCar got a Percy tattoo.

Reese in his element at the train table tent.

Thomas and the open box car.

Brother taking it all in.

Haddie with her certificate.

CarCar looking out the door, and blocking the aisle.

Brother, momma, and Sir Topham Hatt.

Brother flashing a smile.

Close-up of Thomas.

The Critters in front of Thomas.

Thomas pulling out of the station.

I think this picture is hilarious. CarCar looks like a little refuge child. I told you it was dirty there.

Chris