A Day Out with Thomas

Remember a few days ago when I won four free tickets to see Thomas the Tank Engine from the Utah Mom Blog? Well, yesterday was the big day!

My sweetie is supposed to have Fridays off and since all the kids were still in school, it was easy for us to schedule early and not have to answer any questions about why we were only taking the little kids. We don't get many opportunities to be the "young" family anymore and it was fun to pretend.

We left the house about 11:30 and after Curly asking me about 25 times if we were there yet (and Baby Doll even asked a few!) we arrived about 12:45. Heber is a beautiful little pastoral town on the other side of the mountain from here. It reminds me a lot of my hometown. But I digress...

We got our wristbands and tickets and moved into the gathering area.  We could already see Thomas on the tracks, just waiting for the next group to load. Our tickets were for 1:30, so we had a few minutes to enjoy the booths. We started out in the gift shop and we succumbed to the t-shirt display. Baby Doll chose pink, of course, and Curly opted for the blue. As we entered, we were also given a sheet that required 4 stamps to be turned in for a free gift on our way out. So we acquired our first stamp at the gift shop.

With only 15 minutes to loading time, so we waited for a clown to make balloons for the kids. Then we decided to get in line to have our pictures taken with Sir Topham Hat. Baby Doll was a little nervous about this guy who didn't look quite real, but I finally convinced her to get in the picture frame. That was stamp #2. Then we headed for the loading line.

The kids were so excited to get on a real train! Curly wanted to walk between the cars (just because he could), so we finally had to just stop and say, "This is where we are sitting!" The trains were not crowded (thank goodness for Friday!) and we were able to sit right by the window.

After anticipating for a few minutes, the train headed out and the conductor stopped by to say hello. People were so friendly! They waved at the train from cars and backyards. The kids waved right back. They loved it! We saw cows and sheep, fields with sprinklers, horses, and kids jumping on a trampoline. When we got to the end of the line we changed seats to the other side of the train so we could see that side and rode back to the station.


After we got off the train, my sweetie snapped some pics of the kids next to the steam engine...those things are huge! We had a quick granola bar snack and then headed back to the festivities. The kids were so excited to play in the Imagination Station (Stamp #3) where they had Megablocks and little magnetic Thomas trains and tracks.

We watched a magic show after that and the magician gave Curly a wooden coin. He was so excited trying to figure out where he could spend it until I sadly reminded him that it wasn't real. We entered another tent where they were reading Thomas stories and scored our last stamp. When the book was over they started a movie. Curly wanted to watch but Baby Doll was ready to go so she and I went to the face painting booth. She got a pink Thomas tatoo and a tiny Thomas painted on her cheek. Then we went to the coloring booth. That's where Curly and my sweetie joined back up with us.

It was almost time to go. We turned in our stamp cards and we scored some awesome stickers! As we headed toward the entrance and out the gate, the kids were reluctant to leave. We decided it was time for one more picture with Thomas since he was at the station. So we walked back inside and took more pictures. Then Curly noticed the little yellow train cars. He really wanted to ride in one and he finally convinced his dad to ask. Yes, just climb in! The four of us and the driver filled the tiny car and we rode about half a mile out the track and then back to the station.

By then it was about 3:30 and we hadn't eaten lunch so we convinced the kids it was time to go. But that didn't end our adventure. We decided to eat at the Train Stop. It was so fun! They had little model trains that ran around the ceiling, outside furniture shaped like a train, and the prizes in the kids' meals were engineer hats! We took our time eating and enjoying the place (since it was pretty expensive), then we settled back in for the ride home.


Thank you so much, Utah Mom! We had an awesome time!