A Day Out with Thomas & Percy

On Saturday we took Grant to the Day Out with Thomas event at the Transportation Museum. Since we did this last year at Tweetsie Railroad, we thought it might be fun to check it out at a different location. When I went online to get tickets, I saw that you could buy tickets that included a ride with Percy too and as a friend put it...if you're going to drive all that way, you may as well ride Percy too. 

As soon as we got there, Percy was pulling into the station after a ride.

I was so focused on making sure we got there in time for our ride with Thomas...it never occurred to me to check our Percy time. So we got there...saw Percy...took some pictures...and then I found an employee to just find out what we needed to do. She checked our tickets and pointed out that our Percy ride was in 10 minutes!  So we boarded right then. 

So excited :)

It turns out that Percy was pulling the caboose train, which didn't offer much for sight seeing (tiny windows) but Grant really didn't care. He just wanted to ride the train.

At one point along the ride, our guide told us that we would be passing Thomas. Unfortunately we weren't sitting on that side. But the man and his son on the other side of the train offered for us to go over and share their window. He didn't have to ask twice. Grant was over there in two seconds.

I sort of wondered if the man had regretted his offer
because Grant talked their ears off (they were very nice).

The man also pointed out this "911 train" which became
Grant's obsession for the rest of the ride.

Immediately following our Percy ride we had to check in quick to get our wristbands and then head over to the line for our Thomas ride. 

There he is!

And he's pulling all those cars (with some help, of course)

The line moved quick and they were pretty organized. And we somehow got seated in the car right behind Thomas. When we walked into the car Grant said "I can see Thomas' skin!"

Excited to ride with Thomas!

The boy loves a map.

I just love how happy he is :)

So right before the ride starts the guide tells us that we have help Thomas by yelling "All aboard!" So everyone did...and then Thomas blows his whistle...

Grant was excited about hearing Thomas' whistle!

This ride offered better views from bigger windows. They take you back and forth on the tracks in front of the museum.

The roundhouse.

Some other trains out on the tracks.

They told us Percy would be passing us soon.

Hi Percy!

Waving to the people.

He had no desire to wait in line to have his picture
taken with Thomas, this was as close as we got
(behind him is part of line for pictures).

After that, Grant just wanted to check out the museum (convenient, because we did too).

They had a firetruck on display for the kids to check out.

What kid doesn't want to wear a real fireman's helmet?

The Transportation Museum is a really neat place. We had talked about going but this was our first time. So many great buildings filled with great stuff!

One building was just for model trains and all the little things that go with the model trains. There were so many buttons for the kids to push so they could watch all the little models do things! I'm pretty sure Grant pressed every single one.

They had a little Thomas too but I didn't get a
good picture of it.

One building had old cars in it.

The building I was most excited about looked like it was undergoing some repairs so most of it was restricted inside. It was the building that had all the old firetrucks in it (and a plane that Grant could see through the window).

After that, it was on to the roundhouse to check out more trains! So much neat stuff at this place!

From here you can see the turntable that you can ride. Of course,
we had to do that but it was raining so I didn't take pictures.

And we got to see Thomas on one of his last rides of the day.

After that, it was time to start heading back to the car but not before stopping so Grant could run through the hay maze.

I didn't realize how big this place was until we got there. If I had, I would have planned better because we didn't get to see everything. We'll definitely be making plans to go back!

High Five for Friday

Hi there! Today I'm linking up Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Last week, on Thursday, we had the opportunity to go to Grant's Easter party at school. It was adorable, so much fun, and Grant was so excited that we could both be there. The kids got bunny noses painted on by one of the teachers, there were lots of yummy snacks for them to have, and then we got to do a craft together. 

2) Good Friday was spent in Greensboro at the Greensboro Science Center. Husband doesn't get Good Friday off but he was jealous that we were exploring a new place so he took the day off. I'll get a post up about it eventually, but it was a really neat place. It's an aquarium, museum, and zoo all in one. Lots of neat stuff to see and do and a great way to spend our day off together!

He was so excited about the sharks!

"Look! I'm like Thor!"

Through a tunnel and this bubble, you can go inside the otter habitat!

3) Saturday was Easter prep which meant cooking and my helper was chomping at the bit to get in the kitchen with me. He helped me make the macaroni & cheese and couldn't have been more proud of himself (he also enjoyed the compliments at Easter lunch).

He really is a help!

4) Easter! I'll do more about this soon, but this year the Easter Bunny sent Grant on a little scavenger hunt for his basket. It was a lot of fun to watch him look for all the clues and finally find his basket. And he got to enjoy a little chocolate bunny before heading to Gramma & Grandpa's for a big lunch.

The Easter Bunny brought this dino-lover a new dinosaur book
that might be one of his favorite things ever.

5) My sister sent us a box this week! She sends things to Grant for Easter every year and there was some stuff tucked in the bottom for me too :)

You can never have too many ring pops.

Syracuse sweatpants (and OMG are they comfortable) and three
boxes of my favorite store bought chocolate chip cookies!

6) They recently did pictures at school and they were cap & gown for the kids who will be moving to kindergarten this year. I knew it was coming but I still wasn't prepared. And Grant talks constantly about graduation, the songs they'll sing for us, and how we'll go to the party after. I'm not handling this well. The poor kid thinks I don't want to go because I can't talk about it with him or I'll just start crying!

Not ready. Not even a little.

7) Three words: breakfast for dinner.

Stuffed french toast (with hash browns). One of my favs!

8) Last night Grant really wanted to go outside to fly this foam airplane my sister sent him. He's been begging all week. The storms squashed his dreams. But I had bought the ingredients to make "fluffy stuff" (more on that in an upcoming post) so we did that. He loved it! He played with it for an hour and a half and only stopped because it was bath time. 

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

Grant's Real 4th Birthday

Right after Grant's 4th birthday (actual birthday, what this post is about), my schedule went haywire. Not unexpectedly, this is the time of year at work when we start our fair prep and fair travels. But that's why I'm posting this three weeks after the fact. Husband and I took the day off to spend with Grant and we had such a great day that I've really been wanting to write about it. We told him we would spend the day doing whatever he wanted. He said "Ummm...I know what's fun. We could get snow cones! Is that a great idea?" So we named a bunch of that could be done in a day trip and Grant picked the zoo. 

The night before we stayed out too late at a baseball game. We were all having so much fun and we didn't have to get up for work or school the next day so we stayed until the end.

I made sure not to sleep in too late the next morning so I could do a little birthday surprise for Grant. Last year I blew up a bunch of balloons early in the morning and put them all over his floor while he was sleeping. This year I did that and took some leftover streamers from his party and made a barricade across his door to break through.

I did all that before jumping in the shower. I was sure he'd wake up while I was in the shower and I'd miss the whole thing but he didn't. Not long after I was out of the shower, we heard him rustling around and at the moment he noticed the balloons we heard "Huh?!" So we were standing outside his door when he opened it, saw the barricade, and said "Who put this here?!" So we explained that he had to break out.

It was a bit anti-climactic but he had to pee. But after hitting the potty he was right back in his room having a blast with the balloons.

Then it was getting ready and heading for the zoo. After opening one present that I knew he'd want to bring along in the truck.

It was Firefighter Dusty from the new Planes movie.

So the zoo ended up being a fantastic pick. It was a Tuesday so there was no crowd at all and at some points feeling like we had the place to ourselves. It was great. We once again started in Africa, with me bound and determined to feed a giraffe. And once again, I left without feeding a giraffe. I really need them to cooperate, it's on my bucket list!

I still think they're awesome. Moody, but awesome.

I don't think anyone was going to forget how old he turned that day!

It was a warm day but not unpleasant and the lack of crowds made it perfect. We got there a little late (since we all slept in a bit) so we didn't really make a point of seeing everything. We made sure to hit all of Grant's favorites!

We seemed to have caught the lion during his afternoon nap.

Grant thought this monkey hanging out way up there was too funny!

Grant & Daddy checking out the monkeys

And we saw some zebra butt.

At this point I think Grant had asked where the elephants were about 47 times and, thankfully, they were next.

What boy doesn't love a helicopter he can climb on?

The elephants are my favorite :)

After that we wandered through the trails, had lunch, saw a bunch of stuff, and enjoyed our day together.

I love this picture!

Grant thought the giant eggs were so fun!

 On our previous trips to the zoo they'd had a dinosaur exhibit but this time it was a giant bug exhibit. 

He loved all the big bugs (they moved too) and waved bye
to all of them as we moved on to the next one.

This one you could move with controls, he really liked that.

Ha!

He loved the dung beetle poop too!

The second to the last bug was some kind of beetle that sprays acid to protect itself. The bug in the exhibit sprayed water. Husband and I made it through without getting sprayed and were trying to tell Grant when to run but he wasn't fast enough and got sprayed (nothing drastic, he wasn't soaked or anything). For the rest of the day, to anyone who would listen we heard him say "That bug peed on me." Even when we left the zoo and asked it he had a good day and talked about all the stuff we did. He'd say he had a good time, what he liked, and then say "But that bug peed on me." Scarred for life.

This geyser was a bit attraction for Grant. I think he could
have watched it all day! And it sprayed a nice mist too.
It was a nice cooling off point :)

We stopped at the playground area for just a bit before moving on to the seals, polar bear (who was too busy banging on his door for food to come see us), turtles, and of course...the alligators!

Grant was point out the seal to a woman standing nearby.

Always a favorite with Grant.

I think what amused me the most that day was Grant's friendliness. I wouldn't say he's super shy but he's not generally a "talk to everyone" kind of kid. But that day? I swear everyone we came across at the zoo, Grant had to talk to them. At one of the bear exhibits, the bear had just gone through some door just as a man and his girlfriend were walking up. Grant heard the guy mumble something about no bear. Grant stood there with his arms crossed and said "The bear was just here. He went around the corner. I think he was looking for food!" So the guy asked him some stuff about the zoo, they had a little conversation, and we kept going. He did that so much that day! I was so amused.

We left the zoo just as they were closing and took the bus shuttle back to the truck. A ride in a bus was the topper to the day for Grant. Husband and I were exhausted but Grant was a little bundle of excitement on that bus. Then he was asleep in the truck before we left the parking lot (I napped too!). When we got home, he got to open the rest of his birthday presents (one of which was a new board game that is now his favorite game to play).

He told me he wanted Boulder from Rescue Bots...he's loves
his new Boulder!

A week-day-off to celebrate Grant, just the three of us, was a great way to spend the day. I'm glad we got to do what he wanted and that he had so much fun. We didn't end up getting the snow cones he suggested but later on that week was his 4 year check-up that included his kindergarten shots. Who can't use a snow cone after shots? So I took him for a snow cone after dinner that night where he told me "Mmmm...this is delicious. This was a great idea." He's all about the great ideas lately!