Last spring, I was cruising the internet for items to add to the CARE calendar. On the HIT Entertainment website (home of Bob the Builder, Fraggle Rock, Thomas the Tank Engine and more), I found out that Thomas has his own special summer tour called, "A Day Out with Thomas."
X-man loves trains, and although his every day obsession with Thomas might have waned, his love for all things that go has not. So, I tried not to wince too hard when I paid $21 a ticket for the three of us and my father (X-man's usual train fix provider) to go see Thomas on August 16th at the Illinois Rail Museum in Union, IL (Between Marengo and Huntley in what I lovingly and laughingly refer to as the new NW Chicago suburbs).
We went on Saturday, and boy was I glad that we did. After three weeks of X-man being driven around to some pretty untoddler friendly places, "A Day Out with Thomas" was perfect. It was low key, easy, and if you go there early enough, it wasn't even that crowded. The weather was perfect and some of the highlights included: Riding in a train car pulled by a life-size Thomas the Tank Engine; bouncing in a bounce house; playing on a kid-powered rail car; sucking back snow cones, playing in a giant sandpile, building at the Duplo Imagination Station, meeting the local fire department firefighters and a sitting in their truck; riding and walking through many, many, many various trolleys and trains, enjoying the shade, listening to live music, watching a magic show and more.
We were there from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and I gotta tell you, my blood pressure was low. It was crowded, but not so bad because we found a shady table to have snack at. And it was great just to watch X-man smile at every new thing he got to do -- as a big boy. It was worth every penny of admission.
9 comments:
Sounds and looks like you all had a blast!! Xman looks SO happy . . . . you're right--the PERFECT thing for him after doing all of the adult-oriented things you've had to do. He looks like he's grown since I've seen him. Is THAT POSSIBLE?!? oh, and I don't think I've ever seen your dad in a baseball cap :)
We're SO jealous!
But we're so glad that you guys had a great time and that X-man enjoyed himself!
The whole time I was there I was thinking that Bubba and Curious J would have loved it. But I think it would have been over Sam's head. Next summer though, I think it would be perfect for the Ryan family.
Although, the Rail Museum would be an EXCELLENT place to go with your family when you're up north one of these times. It's not that far away from Schaumburg and is much larger than the one in Monticello. (X-man LOVED going through the trains on exhibit, climbing onto the chairs and the beds and looking at the different tiny travel rooms.
Wow! Brings back memories. Looks like X-man had an awesome time!
Glad you guys had a good time! I bet X-man was happy to have some toddler friendly time :)
Dude, you look so relaxed. And Xander looks like he is on the beach with that snowcone in his hand.
Sounds like a blast and X-man's sno-cone looks pretty delish, too.
Marengo is WAY the hell out there. We have family friend who live out there and it takes us 4 freaking hours to get home. We might as well be driving from Cincinnati! :-)
My parents live in Rockford, so it was about a 40-minute drive from my dad's house to Thomas, which wasn't bad. We just drove up Friday, spent the night and then drove back home during naptime on Saturday. So it worked out for us okay.
But the Rockford Airport renamed itself the Chicago/Rockford Airport... which cracks me up. And the number of commuters from Marengo and Rockford into Downtown is disgusting. It's not all that different from when we lived in Northern Virginia and people would come up from Quantico, but still. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!
My husband, sister, and husband's best friend took my then four year old to see Thomas when my second child was born. He still has fond memories of it four years later. Glad you enjoyed it...cute pics!
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