Best Day of His Life!

This weekend we headed down to our nation's capital to see Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston. James quite enjoyed his auntie & uncle (and Zim Zim Cat). Again he proved to be a great traveller; we left here after lunch (and doctors' appointments) on Friday (playing hooky from work/school), so James caught a nap in the car, and we met up with Ali near the capitol where James enjoyed running around and stretching his legs.

We then met up with Preston for a super yummy dinner at a very cool restaurant that I hope to visit again when we return to DC. My grass-fed hamburger was delish, and James's chicken was even tastier!

After dinner, James explored A & P's house then settled down for the night. The next day was to be the BEST day of his life... after breakfast we drove to Baltimore for A Day Out With Thomas! I feel certain that James would have been thrilled at the B & O Railroad Museum even had Thomas not been visiting. However, our friend from Sodor was there, and boy did James LOVE it!

He was loving the roundhouse full of trains, then we walked him outside to see Thomas. His face lit up and he giggled with delight. We got to admire Thomas and pose for pictures before boarding for a (not so scenic) ride on the rails.

After the ride, James was beside himself: he could hardly decide where to go and what to do-- there were train tables where he could play but also model trains set up both inside and outside the roundhouse. The fact that there were model Thomases running on the tracks was an added bonus.

James also really enjoyed exploring the historical engines and train cars that were in the roundhouse and the cranes and such that were outside.

AND we got to "meet" and pose for pictures with Sir Topham Hatt! James was upset at first when Ali took him from the toy train table to join Mommy and Daddy in line. Then we rounded the corner and he saw "Mr. Topham Hatt"-- the tears stopped! He posed for pictures then said quietly to me, "You want to touch him." I told him he could, so he reached over and touched Sir Topham Hatt on the chest, then gave him a big hug. SO CUTE!!! I was glad to see that S.T.H. hugged James in return.

Outside there was a wooden playground type train that James quite enjoyed climbing in, on, over, and through.

We also headed over to the collection of "jumpy things" and found one that was just his size. He would jump across the way to the slide, climb up, slide down with a "Weee!", go by the exit, poke his foot out, come right back in, and repeat. Many times.

We finally tore him away from that to get some Thomas fake tattoos. He wasn't too happy about the one he had chosen for himself (Rosie) when it was applied, but once it dried in place he quite enjoyed taking stock of who everyone was wearing (Thomas on Auntie Ali, James on Mommy, James and Percy on Daddy, for those of you keeping score).

We watched Thomas pulling back into the station and collected all our passport stamps to get a prize for James-- it was a Viewmaster type toy that he'll enjoy once he figures out how to actually use it.

We finally reached the point where we knew that while there was enough entertainment and train fun there to occupy us for several more hours, that James was really quite overwhelmed, hungry, and tired. He'd had a great time, so we decided to leave on a high note.

We headed over to the Lexington Market for delicious crabcakes for lunch then headed back to DC. James got a much needed nap in the car and enjoyed playing and watching "the ponies" that afternoon.

He also LOVED the Thomas bath toy that Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston provided for him. Oh the fun he had squirting water out of the funnel! (After James hit the sack, we had the most delicious homemade pizza ever thanks to Ali and P-- yummy!)

Sunday morning we went to church where James enjoyed the nursery, the doughnuts, and Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston's class. When Dan did bring him into church for Communion, James said, "This is a BIG church!"

We ended our fantastic family weekend with a great "picmic" on the National Mall where James did a little eating and a lot of running around and chasing ducks. It was such a fun, fun weekend!

James sported his "I Spent the Day With Thomas" t-shirt today. When I picked him up after school, one of his classmates was commenting on Thomas. James said, "You rode him. You rode the big Thomas. He was HUGE."

Thanks, Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston for a wonderful, memorable weekend. We love you!