The Lee Family: Riding on Thomas the Train

A few weeks ago I decided to to buy tickets for the four of us to go to ride on Thomas Train in Grapevine. I know neither girl is really interested in Thomas Train anymore, and Olivia never really was, but we used to go every year for so many years and it was always such fun. We chose today since both girls had soccer games at 9am, so we were free to relax and the girls could play for a few hours before Thomas. Sofia actually sat out of the soccer game since she still has broken eye glasses and is pretty beat up from her scooter accident last Saturday. Olivia had a good soccer game and scored 2 goals (one for her team and another for their opponents - oops). After soccer, we returned to the house where CK made biscuits, scrambled eggs and bacon. So delicious! Olivia best friend, Hannah, came over for a playdate while Sofia and I walked Buddy to "hidden lakes" which is one of our favorite places to walk. Sofia actually scootered, her first time back on the scooter after her fall last week. She wore leggings so she could cover over her legs which have been pretty scrapped up repeatedly from trampolining with Olivia. Once we got to hidden lakes, Buddy jumped into the lake to cool off and Sofia explored for turtles. We headed to the trail and explored a small pool for pollywogs but ended up finding a baby turtle that has been injured. Of course, Sofia wanted to rescue the turtle and bring it home, but I told her nature has to take care of itself and the turtle was living in the best place it could.

We headed to Grapevine and lucked into a great parking spot and headed over to the train depot area. Before she started Kindergarten, Sofia and I used to go on Friday and often stay for hours playing in the sandbox, visiting Sir Topham Hatt, riding the train, playing on the train tables, getting Thomas the train tattoos and doing the pony rides. One year, I know we were there for over seven hours! It was such a fun event that Sofia always really loved to go to. After Olivia came along, the four of us would often go and it was still a lot of fun for Sofia, but Olivia never really got into all the trains. Then, probably the last time we were there, Olivia was maybe 2 years old and just as we were getting ready to leave for the day we couldn't find her. It was a very scary and stressful few minutes until we found her walking up the little stairs to the porch just across from where we were. She was fine and didn't even notice we weren't around, but it was a gut-wrenching feeling.

Now that they are close to 10 and 6, neither of the girls were terribly excited when I told them about our plans. Once we made our way inside, the girls got their face painted. Sofia asked for a butterfly and Olivia got a mermaid. From there we went into the train table area and the girls walked around a bit, but didn't join in until Olivia decided to color at the coloring table. The girls were completely surrounded by toddlers, mostly boys. It made us realize that being surrounded by toddlers seems like a lifetime ago. It was great to know our girls will stick with us and even if Sofia wonders off, she'll stay close and we don't have to immediately start searching for her. It just made us appreciate the age the girls are now.

After Olivia finished coloring her train page, we left the train barn and met up with Sofia who was playing in the sandbox. Since out last time riding on Thomas Train was a few years ago, the layout of the fun area is completely different. In the past, there was a bounce house which is no longer an option and many of the fun areas have been moved to different areas. While the girls played in the sand, CK headed over to stand in line to board the train. Once the line started moving, we met up with CK and got our tickets out. Neither girl was excited about the train trip but were up for it. Such a difference from just a few years ago.

We found our seats and the train started moving while playing the Thomas Train theme songs. It was really interesting to watch Sofia's face as she realized she recognized the song but couldn't quite grasp the words. She used to sing the Thomas Train songs over and over for years. Finally she remembered and started singing along and probably one of my favorite parts of the event was watching her pensively look out the train window as the song words came back to her. The train trip only lasts about 20 minutes and we were soon back in the station. We opted to avoid the huge line of parents and toddlers wanting an official photo standing in front of Thomas and decided to get our own photo from a little further away.

After photos, we headed to Fireside Pies for salad and pizzas. The girls were starving and we were ready to eat and get a little distance from so many toddlers. While we sat outside and waited for our food to arrive, the girls played on the statue outside the restaurant. Of course, Olivia played while Sofia sat at the top of the statue and read her book. That girl would read anywhere! We enjoyed our salad and pizza before heading home for an early night. It was a fun outing but also a little bittersweet remembering how much joy and fun Thomas Train used to bring and is now less than exciting. Those trips to Thomas are some of my favorite memories and I think I tried to recreate the feeling and fun. I'm sure in a few years I'll look back at all the things they enjoy doing now - scootering, jumping on the trampoline, playing My Little Pony together and pretending to be Star Wars Jedi and miss this stage too.

Ready to scooter (with her broken eye glasses and healing wounds).