Thomas, He's the Cheeky One!

We were happy to see Friday arrive to kick off our big Thomas the Train weekend.  I picked up Avery as my mom was picking up Sam so that I could see him before leaving.  Avery and I then hurried home to pack.  Ned was later getting home, putting us later leaving and leaving in the middle of a storm.  Avery was a trooper, and we were all thrilled to arrive at a Chick-Fil-A on I85 a little before 7.  After we ate, we put Avery in her pajamas.  She slept most of the 2 hours to our hotel but woke up often.  It was a long drive in the dark and the rain, so I was happy to get to our hotel.  We saw other children decked out in Thomas attire as we checked in and made our way to our room.  Avery was of course wide awake by then, but we all climbed into bed together anyway since it was after 10 p.m.  I think I was the first one to go to sleep!

I'm not sure that anyone got a ton of sleep.  It was hot in our room and a bit crowded in the big bed.  Avery was asking questions at 5:30 a.m., but she must have gone back to sleep, because she was sleeping when my alarm went off at 7.  We got ready and had breakfast at the hotel.  Since they didn't serve us any pink "bonuts" we found a Krispy Kreme on the way to Thomas.  Chocolate with sprinkles was a fine substitute for pink.

We then made our way to the N.C. Transportation Museum.  Thomas was driving by as we pulled up, and Avery was so excited.  I'm ready to go into full Disney planning mode now after her reaction.  They had some little activities set up, but we went right for the gift tent!  Avery has a few Thomas trains, but I know we'll soon have a train table with a complete set.  We then hopped in line for a picture with Sir Topham Hatt.

They have people taking pictures as well, but I think mine will suffice for this one.  After the picture, it was time to get in line for our ride.  Someone was a bit excited.

We boarded the train and found our seats.  Our ride was timed just right as it rained the whole time we rode.  Avery just took it all in.

It had stopped raining once our ride was over, so we got in line to take pictures with Thomas.  We weren't sure if Thomas would leave before our turn, but we made it.  I've viewed the pictures online, and they're pretty funny.

It was raining again by that point, and we had done all we came to do.  Olive Garden sounded like a good destination for lunch, although as we drove there, we wished we had looked into some of the local places in Salisbury.  It looked like a neat little place.

After a good lunch, it was back in the car again.  Avery was knocked out before we even stopped for gas.  She slept about 2 hours which is longer than she ever has in the car.

It rained a lot on the way home too, which was no fun.  We stopped once for Ned to get a drink, and we were home about 4:30.  My parents arrived shortly after that with Sam and stayed for dinner.  Sam had done just great for them.  He slept all night and napped in the crib and was happy the whole time.  I wasn't away from Avery overnight until she was 13 or 14 months old, and I had never been as far away.  I laugh thinking about me making Ned promise on our honeymoon that we would go back on our 5th year anniversary.  I don't see that happening in March.  It is good to know that Sam can stay away and do just fine.  He's got very sick very quickly yesterday, so I'm thankful it held off a few days.

After dinner it was time for everyone to head to bed.  We love special days with our children and can't wait for Sam to join us on another Thomas adventure.