Arriving Somewhere...: Jonathan's Big Day Out With Thomas

Today was one of two weekends for the Day Out With Thomas. Thomas apparently goes on an American tour every year and this was his Seattle stop. As expected, Jonathan absolutely loved it and had a great time! The weather was perfect: sunny but not hot. Considering this is Seattle, this is a rare thing in summer - either it's scorching hot, or it's raining.

There was actually a fair amount of things to see and do if you are a Thomas aficionado as Jonathan is. The day started with arriving and heading straight for the merchandise tent. Jonathan made out like a bandit thanks to his sucker parents. Even the lady at the register was impressed by Jonathan's haul.

We then lined up for a ride with Thomas. While you are guaranteed a spot on the train, it's first come first served in terms of where you sit. We decided to line up early so that we could sit in the first coach behind Thomas so Jonathan could see him for the whole trip. It was actually quite cute and amusing to hear Jonathan among the countless other children making the characteristic "whoo whoo" peeping noise that Thomas makes.

After the train ride (25 minutes total time) it was off to explore what else the excursion offered. We lined up for pictures with Sir Topham Hatt, pictures with Thomas (as the passengers disembark/board Thomas, other people take pictures with him), checking out the gift shop (which was separate from the merchandise tent - very clever those capitalists!), getting a tattoo of Percy, and lots of play time at the train tables. (As an aside, I was curious as to just how many of the Thomas toys walked off never to be seen again...).

As another aside, meeting Sir Topham Hatt was interesting. From the front, he looked normal. From the side/profile, one could see the costume was very loose fitting and it often appeared as if his head would come off/self decapitate. It was somewhat funny and yet disturbing at the same time and one wonders if any children noticed and if so what they might have thought (or what neurosis it may have spawned only to show up later in life)...

Jonathan was so enthralled with playing with the trains at the tables that he basically held off going to the bathroom for just about as long as he absolutely possibly could. Luckily, his parents had the foresight to put a diaper/pullup on him ahead of time. In the middle of playing, Jonathan suddenly stopped, looked at me, and said, "I got to go potty". Before we could even leave the tent, he suddenly assumed the tell-tale frozen Spider-man position and held it for about 10-15 seconds. Then he said, "Play more!". A very good thing he had a diaper on, indeed! It just goes to show you where basic biological functions rank in comparison to playing with Thomas toys.

We arrived at the festivities around 1:30PMish and basically stayed until closing (about 6PMish).

Below are the pictures of Jonathan's day (in chronological order).

Tent near the entrance welcoming you.