Our favorite not-so-little engine
Yesterday was our very first family foray into Amish country. We live less than an hour away, but somehow we have evolved this phobia of driving anywhere. Well, I suppose we have had an excuse up to this point, with the tiny baby and potty-training in our not-so-recent past. But now things are better, or at least these "things" in the backseat are getting used to being stuck in the car for a bit, and so the Pennsylvania countryside in all its agricultural beauty and cheese-makery is suddenly open to us.
After dodging about fifty bazillion buggies loaded with be-bonneted people on their way to church, we made it to Strasburg Railroad, our final destination chosen for one very specific, life-sized reason:
See that maroon passenger car behind this gigantic, unreal Thomas the Tank Engine? We rode in it.
Here we demonstrate the "Divide and Conquer" parenting approach to train rides:
Thomas pulled us out-and-back a strip of Amish farmland for a total of twenty minutes. This is what it looked like most of the time, giddy preschoolerness included:
While Isaac had the time of his life ("I love riding on trains!") Jacob was mostly unhappy to be confined to a seat. Here he is saying "NO!", the theme of his lately fussy, molar-teething life...
...although any mention of "Thomas" shut him up instantly. Here, I've just pointed out to him the black smoke hanging outside our car (you can see it in the upper left) is from Thomas himself. And lo! No fussing! For a second!
Thomas drove us next to a bunch of Amish barns. This one is curing tobacky, which is why the slats on the barn's sides are flared open. You can see bunches of tobacco hanging inside the big barn door if you click on the picture.
There were lots of other, smaller train operations to be enjoyed with our admission ticket. We rode in a small caboose together; Isaac and Dada rode in some open, wooden track cars together as Jacob melted down. Here, again, at the mention of "Thomas", Jacob resolidified and Dada took a picture of Jacob and me with Thomas coming back into the station:
We hit the toy store tent and spent an ungodly sum before heading home. On our way back to the car was a tent of Cranky Cars. Isaac wanted to have a go at them, so Dada took him. He was a TOTAL pro!
It was a hefty little morning for us, and the most perfect outing ever for little people such as my own who play with trains every single day. I'm sure Jacob would have enjoyed it immensely if he wasn't so busy cutting some horse teeth.
For the truly devoted, a complete slideshow of our Day Out with Thomas pictures can be found here.
After dodging about fifty bazillion buggies loaded with be-bonneted people on their way to church, we made it to Strasburg Railroad, our final destination chosen for one very specific, life-sized reason:
See that maroon passenger car behind this gigantic, unreal Thomas the Tank Engine? We rode in it.
Here we demonstrate the "Divide and Conquer" parenting approach to train rides:
Thomas pulled us out-and-back a strip of Amish farmland for a total of twenty minutes. This is what it looked like most of the time, giddy preschoolerness included:
While Isaac had the time of his life ("I love riding on trains!") Jacob was mostly unhappy to be confined to a seat. Here he is saying "NO!", the theme of his lately fussy, molar-teething life...
...although any mention of "Thomas" shut him up instantly. Here, I've just pointed out to him the black smoke hanging outside our car (you can see it in the upper left) is from Thomas himself. And lo! No fussing! For a second!
Thomas drove us next to a bunch of Amish barns. This one is curing tobacky, which is why the slats on the barn's sides are flared open. You can see bunches of tobacco hanging inside the big barn door if you click on the picture.
There were lots of other, smaller train operations to be enjoyed with our admission ticket. We rode in a small caboose together; Isaac and Dada rode in some open, wooden track cars together as Jacob melted down. Here, again, at the mention of "Thomas", Jacob resolidified and Dada took a picture of Jacob and me with Thomas coming back into the station:
We hit the toy store tent and spent an ungodly sum before heading home. On our way back to the car was a tent of Cranky Cars. Isaac wanted to have a go at them, so Dada took him. He was a TOTAL pro!
It was a hefty little morning for us, and the most perfect outing ever for little people such as my own who play with trains every single day. I'm sure Jacob would have enjoyed it immensely if he wasn't so busy cutting some horse teeth.
For the truly devoted, a complete slideshow of our Day Out with Thomas pictures can be found here.
posted by Claire at 10:40 PM
3 Comments:
Too funny - we went to the same place in June and our photos are SO SIMILAR! Jake loved it - he was in awe of the trains and the ride! Plus - stopping for some Amish goodies is always a nice treat for the way home!
~Lynn
We are headed to the EXACT same place on Saturday. Dagnabit, why didn't you get it right? He he, just kidding. Glad you had fun!
I'm so glad you posted about this! I thought the one we missed in the summer was the only time Thomas would be there for the whole year. Now we can go!!! Ryan is so excited.
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