Meeting Thomas

Post #2 about our busy Memorial Day weekend focuses on one of the main reasons we decided to make the 4 hour trek north on I-71-- Day Out With Thomas. Cate loves Thomas! Really, she just likes trains in general (which explains why the train table for her birthday was such a big hit). So of course we couldn't turn my parents down when they offered to buy Cate a ticket to Day Out With Thomas on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. And of course, Eric and I bought tickets to come along.
Cate was thrilled to get to meet Thomas and go for a ride on him. While we waited for our turn to ride, Cate got a Thomas tattoo...
...played with some train tables...
...was in awe of a model train display that included Thomas...
...and got her picture taken in a cutout of a CVSR engine.
When it was time to ride, the train cars were decorated in Thomas blue and red.
Cate had a great time on the ride. When she wasn't posing for the pictures below, she was making friends with some boys across the aisle.
At the end, she got a junior engineer's certificate.
She loved the whole experience and conked out on Eric's shoulder on the walk back to the car (which NEVER happens). My mom was gracious enough to buy a cute photo album in the gift shop and printed out all of the photos we took in order to create one cute memory book.
In fact, Cate had such a good time, that my mom is hoping to get tickets for her to ride the Polar Express (a ride based off the book by the same name, and yes, you do wear your PJ's on the ride and get served hot chocolate...I've been on it). Unfortunately, I'll be very close to my due date and won't be able to travel to do the ride too (it's in December, around Christmas)-- I guess it will have to be Cate's first weekend away by herself.

Thank you Nanny and Poppy for a great day!
~Melody :-)