~Thomas The Train~

Saturday morning my vast knowledge of Thomas The Tank Engine actually paid off! The morning news asked the question "Where do Thomas The Train and his friends live?" I thought well holy crap I know that! So I entered the answer into an email and sent it off. Little did I know that 5 minutes later I would receive a reply saying that not only was I right but I had won 4 tickets to ride Thomas the Train! At first I was like KICKASS!!! and then I thought WTF!?!?! What in the hell was I, a grown woman with no children of her own do with 4 tickets to go ride Thomas the Train? Well I did what any young woman with a contracted bestest friend....CALL ~DA~!!! So I call her and ask hey what are you guys doing tomorrow? To which she replied uuumm I dunno, why? I asked her if there was any way they would be able to come over? To which she replied uuuummm I dunno, why? Then I told her that I had won 4 tickets to go see Thomas the Train and was thinking that her and Travis could take the kids or if Travis was working that her and I could take the kids. To which she replied uuumm how did you win the tickets and why would you? So I told her that I had the a vast knowledge of Thomas the Train due to two factors. Factor number one my brother Aaron was nuts about Thomas when he was a little ankle biter. We watched his Thomas videos DAILY! Trust me, Thomas and I are definitely acquainted!  To which she replied well let me call Travis & see what is up with him.  I said okay and we hung up. A little while later I get the following text: "He's calling the tire guy to see if they have tires for my car but its so far a yes! Oh and he said he can't make it so u know what that means?!?!?!?!? We finally have a reason to get the train shaped scrapbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The next morning I randomly slept in and I kept hearing my phone. I finally woke up to go get my coffee. I saw a text that said "Call me when you get a chance". I'm one of those people that have to be awake for at least 30 minutes before I can start talking to people. So replied "My brain just woke up so as soon as my voice does, I will". Once I was parked in front of the starbucks I figured my voice should be awake enough to at least see what was up with ~DA~. So I called...boy I should I should forced my voice to wake up earlier!!! She told me she was on I-75 and that Travis decided not to go. That she was on her way to me so we could hang before going to see Thomas. She kept talking but seeing how my brain just clicked on it took me a minute to process what she had just said. About a minute later I said WHOA! wait you are on your way here! I haven't even showered! In fact I just threw on the clothes I had on yesterday just to go to Starbucks! Perhaps you need to slow down a bit, at least slow enough for me to get my coffee, get back and shower! So she decides to stop for breakfast and I got some time to make myself an interactive human. Once I was ready she was here and we were on our way!!
~DA~ taught TJ on the drive over to pull the whistle string and say CHOOCHOO!! I then realized that 3 out of the 4 people in the car had never seen a Thomas episode and that the one person who had was one of the adults! However I was determined that this was going to be good time for all! We get to the train museum and saw a small line of cars at the parking lot. There was a person at the entrance with a handful of money. Both ~DA~ and I looked at each neither of us had thought it was going to cost to park let alone thought of bringing cash! So we both started digging through bags, cup holders, center consoles, seats, whatever we could to find whatever cash we could. I then remembered oh hey there is 2 bucks in my pocket! (I had found it yesterday randomly in my pocket and I still have yet to figure out just how exactly 2 bucks found its way into my pocket!) So we pull up and the guy asked "What are you here for"? When I told him we were here for Thomas he tells us to pull forward and talk to the older lady. So we pull up. Then by far one of the most brilliant pan handling schemes I've ever been witness to played out. The older lady was standing there with a handful of cash. So I'm thinking it's probably going to be like 2 or 3 bucks to park. So I had the cash in my hand with ~DA~ backing me up with loose change. I roll down the window and she says "Good morning, you here for Thomas!" I tell her yes and she says "Great! Well to let you know parking for the Thomas event is free!" at this point I'm thinking WOOHOO!! "However we are accepting donations for the train museum" and at this point I'm thinking lady that was bloody brilliant!! She's looking at my hand which has money it and I reluctantly give her 2 of the 3 bucks we had. I didn't want us to be completely devoid of cash. She thanks me and wishes us a good time! I almost clapped, she played the scene perfectly! We then go to park and there are 3 or 4 people directing cars. Ya know I never understood the need to direct cars to park, esp when the parking lot is HUGE! I'm sure we could handle it just fine, but hey what do I know?!?! So then I drive over to the parking space I'm being waved into and as I'm pulling forward the lady that is directing us in is yelling "SLOW DOWN"!!!! uuuummm that's what I was doing as I was pulling in...but yeah thanks for the directions lady, mucho appreciate-o. We decide to go sans stroller and make our way to the tram. Which I think TJ enjoyed thoroughly!
We get the tickets and get inside. OMG this is about the lamest thing we've seen in awhile. We decided to make the best of it!

Originally Posted March 2011 by ~kat