A Day Out With Thomas & A Face I Will Never Forget

This was the weekend we finally got to ride Thomas. I had bought the tickets in early January & the time had finally come! We kept telling Jacob we are going to go ride Thomas but I don't think he fully understood what was really going to happen but still he hears Thomas & he is beyond excited. We left for Grapevine about 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning. It was about a 4 hour ride up there but between restroom stops we got there around 11:00 a.m. We got to our hotel & was AMAZED! It was beautiful!! It was a big circle shape...kinda like the Astrodome with restaurants, water falls, train tracks and all sorts of things inside. We looked around for a little bit and then went up to our room & went out onto our balcony...it over looked all of the inside of the hotel. It was beautiful!! We got freshened up and changed and headed out to grab some lunch before we went to Thomas. We finished lunch and went to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad where all the Thomas activities were held. We drove by and couldn't believe how many people were there! We parked and walked over to the railroad. We got there about 12:30 & we weren't scheduled to ride until 2:00 p.m. so we had some time to kill. Jacob rode a little train and we went into a store they had set up that was filled to the max with any thing you could imagine that was Thomas. Kids were screaming to their parents they wanted all this stuff it was a mad house. Thankfully Jacob was calm...I thank the Lord for that...Ruben says it was just because he had everything he didn't need any more. haha. So he got a shirt that said he rode Thomas, 2 books (I never say no to books), a Thomas whistle, and a train named Duck he didn't have that we had been seriously looking for, for months now. So he was very happy he got that and I was happy I didn't have to look at every store for it any more. By that time it was 1:20 and I noticed a couple of people already getting in line so I told Ruben we should too so we could get a good seat. A few minutes later we see Thomas pulling up. His eyes went around in circles, blew his horn, and let out some smoke...Jacob FREAKED out! His face lit up with excitement! He was yelling omg I love Thomas...over & over again and blowing his new Thomas whistle. We honestly thought he was going to cry from so much excitement. His face just made everything worth it...he was at that moment the happiest boy in the world. I cry now just remembering how happy something so simple as a train could just bring so much joy to his life. It was amazing!! The other people got off & it was our turn to board. We got on & they had Thomas songs playing and the train conductor came and punched our tickets like they did in the old days and he even took a picture with Jacob. Our ride started and lasted for about 30 minutes. The windows were open and it felt so nice with the breeze coming in. We had a great time!! We got off the train and waited in line to have our picture taken in front of Thomas. After that we went and got in line to meet Sir Topham Hatt and take a picture with him as well. We walked around a little more and then decided to head back to the hotel. We got there and walked around the whole hotel and took tons of pictures. We went up to our room and showered and got ready to go out for dinner. When we got back that night we sat out on the balcony again and listen to music from a wedding reception that was going on below. It was really nice. We left Sunday morning very exhausted from the short vacation we had but filled with lots of memories. I know Jacob will remember this trip for a life time just as I will never forget the look on his face as it light up with excitement when he saw Thomas. It was an amazing trip!! I thank the Lord above for the chance to spend quality family time together & getting us there and home safely. We were truly blessed this weekend!! Thomas or bust! (haha Ruben...thank your for being a great dad. Jacob & I love you more than you could imagine)