A Very Special Special

As a reward for being Really Useful (apparently that's the biggest compliment on the Island of Sodor), Oliver was treated to a day out with his best buddy Thomas!

We didn't exactly tell him what we were doing, but all morning he was asking for Choo Choo, so we thought the baby genius had figured it out.  But then again he saw me grabbing some Thomas DVDs for the 1hour-ish car ride up there.  Or maybe he knew we were up to something.  Who knows.  The kid's too smart.  I did tell him we had a Special Surprise for him... and then because I watch way too much Thomas and I could resist, I called it his "Special Special."

He was pretty psyched when we got there and he saw what was up.

When he saw Thomas he stared waving and gave chase as he made his way down the track.  Adorable! Too cute for words!  I just loved how excited and in awe he was.

There were lots of other things to check out there, too.  Oliver is very impressed by these Early American Steam Engines.  They sure are pretty neat.

We HAD to get a Thomas tattoo.  On his hand.  Just like his Gymbo the Clown stamp he gets at Gymboree.  He kept looking down and rediscovering it all day.  Unfortunately it was gone by bedtime.

And then there was the moment I nearly cried....

...his first carnival ride!  

Oliver loves the quarter rides in the mall, but usually bolts if you actually put a quarter in them to make them move.  Well, the night before going to ride with "the Cheeky One" we happened to be at the mall, and I happened to have quarters.  For the first time he was excited to really ride the little trucks.  It was kind of a relief for us since we weren't 100% sure how Oliver would take to riding a train.  There's a train that runs inside the mall and he loves watching and chasing after it, but was terrified when we attempted to get him on it.  And back in December he loved seeing all the vehicles at the Touch-a-Truck, but didn't want to climb up in them.  Well, he is officially a big boy now.  

Oliver barely cracked a smile the entire day.  You would think he was miserable, but we know our kid... furrowed eyebrows aside, we could tell he was having a great time.  He is always very serious and focuses all his energy in absorbing new experiences. 

So remember that time he was afraid to sit in a firetruck...?

Fear's gone now!

He loved the rides.  So cute...and he actually cracked a little smile.  Briefly.

Owen actually had a great time too.  He was all smiles and giggles all day.  I forget how big he is getting sometimes.  If you noticed in the picture of me and the two boys on the train, Owen is thrown in the Moby Wrap pretty sloppily.  Well as we were heading over to board and our ride time was being announced, I nearly panicked trying to quickly get the Moby on and park the snap-n-go and strap Owen into the wrap, all without slowing Nate down too much.  So he kind of just got thrown in there so I could carry him on the train, and then I realized... he's no floppy baby that needs to be tucked in to me anymore.  He's a big baby who enjoys being out and able to experience things too.  Talk about sweet and sour!  I loved watching him giggle and reach and enjoy the ride, but I also felt a little pang of jealousy seeing all the other moms wearing their babies.

Unlike some other people there...we were not about to drop major dollars in the gift shop (as much as we wanted to), but we did score Oliver this Lego Thomas that he had a blast putting together and taking apart  over and over and over and over.  And speaking of souvenirs, I would like to take a minute to laugh at all the parents who bought $10 balloons for toddlers to carry on a windy day.  Suckers.  So glad Oliver is still oblivious to all the things he just has to have!  Oh man, someday soon we will be suckers too.  And we will be in the group of suckers with TWO kids... buying TWO overpriced balloons that will be deflated and trashed by the end of the week (if the kids manages to hold on it to that is).

At the end of the day we had two dirty little engines who needed a wash down.  

Owen now sits up in the tub making bath time much easier.  This was his first bubble bath, (we don't do bubble baths very often, they kind of seem like a waste of soap to me), and he LOVED it.  

Yeah it was an awesome day!