As many of you know Carson absolutely adores trains and just can't seem to get enough of them! Well today was a his lucky day, we had a fun filled day full of trains including Thomas the Train. As an early birthday present we decided to take him up to see Thomas the Train at the Heber Valley Railroad Station. It turned out perfect because Carson is not quite 2 we did not have to pay for him to ride Thomas or participate in all the fun activities they have for children of all ages. In addition as you walked in they give you a piece of paper with 4 different activities to complete and upon completion each kid received a special prize.
Carson loved to point at the trains and say "trains and tracks"
Thomas has arrive, "All Aboard!"
We arrived a little early before we had the privilege of riding Thomas, so we took the time to run around and look at all the trains. They had little trains, they had freight cars, they had a big old black steam engine, and a little helper train( not sure what the correct term for this type of train car is.) It was fun to see Carson's eyes light up as he saw all the big trains and the train tracks! At the very beginning as we were arriving he got upset and started crying because he thought we were leaving the train as we had to pass the train in order to enter into the venue, funny little boy, but he soon realized that he was in for a big treat!
Waiting in line to board Thomas!
Look it's Thomas!
Finally 11:15 arrived and we were able to board Thomas the Train for a short ride down the tracks. Carson even gave our conductor the tickets to ride the train himself, during the ride he was made Junior Engineer for being such a great passenger even signed by the one and only Sir Topham Hatt! He loved looking out the open train windows as we rode down the tracks, I was quite surprised, he just sat on Daddy's lap and relaxed as we rode rather than wanting to run all over the train. I was not sure he completely enjoyed it, but his expression afterwards made it quite clear that he loved the ride, you guessed it he cried and wanted to stay on the train for another ride down the track. Needless to say he thoroughly enjoyed himself and the ride down the tracks!
Look at that smile, priceless.
Dad, Look a "Train."
Our Junior Engineer
After the ride on the train Carson found a little red caboose to play in , it was the place to be in you were under 3 feet tall it seemed, kids everywhere in and around the little red caboose. We then headed over to meet Sir Topham Hatt himself, Carson was not shy and when it came time for our turn with Sir Topham Hatt he gave him a big smile and great big high five to go along with it! This station we could have purchased a professional picture, but our little bit further picture will have to do. If you wanted you could spend an additional fortune ordering prints and getting a gazillion Thomas the tank Engine sets, you name it they had it.
My Little Red Caboose.
As there was so much to see and so much to do we decided we would hit each of the four stations we needed to hit in order for Carson so receive his special prize first, and then let him run around and explore again. The first station I already mentioned, was meeting and getting a picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt, next we headed to the Storytelling & Video-Viewing tent. I again was surprised that Carson sat through part of a story involving Thomas and his Friends and about 5 minutes of one of the Thomas shows before he was ready to move on! But, hey we received another stamp and arrived even closer to the prize.
Listening to the story
Watching the "show"
Next stop for a stamp was the gift shop, which we quickly walked through before Carson could realize all the trains around that he would have course wanted, we almost got him a shirt with Thomas, but we decided against it in the end. Now we had one tent to go and this by far was his favorite tent.
The final tent included receiving a Thomas or Friend tattoo, coloring a Thomas page, and finally a tent set up with all sorts of Legos, and train sets for all ages. Carson played, and played, and played for about an hour and a half, and when it was time to go once again we had to take him kicking and screaming, he was just having so much fun and did not want to leave. While Carson was having the time of his life in the imagination station tent, Mama went and got him his prize and surprised him with it in the car! The prize was a few Mega blocks that we turned into a Thomas train as well as a packet of stickers of Thomas and his Friends, score!
Before leaving the park we got to ride on the little helper train and boy does that thing go fast, much faster than I expected for sure. In fact when it started going Carson got a little scared and started to cry, but soon realized it was fun and going by the big steam engines made it all that more exciting!
By this time it was about 1:30 pm in afternoon and we were all about to die of starvation, just kidding but we were all a bit hungry, so we decided to say goodbye to the trains and head to find lunch on the town.
On the way to lunch, stay awake buddy!
We decided to go to Dickey's BBQ because we had been given two coupons for get one BBQ sandwich with a purchase of a large drink, turned out to be a really good meal at a really good discount. At the end of your meal you also got a complementary ice cream cone. We got a few good pictures of Carson eating an ice cream cone for the first time, I know he probably should have already done this, but he has never done this by himself and he did a pretty good job. To end the trip to Heber we visited Granny's and got a couple of their famous shakes, and then headed home.
No sooner did we get on the road home did Carson fall asleep, in fact he was so tired from his day of fun that he fell asleep with his finger in his mouth, silly boy. The rest of the afternoon and early evening has been filled with Carson playing with the other part of his early birthday present a set of trains from Ikea. It was a fun filled and enjoyable day to say the least. Thanks Thomas for letting us spend the day with you!
Look at that smile, priceless.
Our Junior Engineer
After the ride on the train Carson found a little red caboose to play in , it was the place to be in you were under 3 feet tall it seemed, kids everywhere in and around the little red caboose. We then headed over to meet Sir Topham Hatt himself, Carson was not shy and when it came time for our turn with Sir Topham Hatt he gave him a big smile and great big high five to go along with it! This station we could have purchased a professional picture, but our little bit further picture will have to do. If you wanted you could spend an additional fortune ordering prints and getting a gazillion Thomas the tank Engine sets, you name it they had it.
My Little Red Caboose.
As there was so much to see and so much to do we decided we would hit each of the four stations we needed to hit in order for Carson so receive his special prize first, and then let him run around and explore again. The first station I already mentioned, was meeting and getting a picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt, next we headed to the Storytelling & Video-Viewing tent. I again was surprised that Carson sat through part of a story involving Thomas and his Friends and about 5 minutes of one of the Thomas shows before he was ready to move on! But, hey we received another stamp and arrived even closer to the prize.
Listening to the story
Watching the "show"
Next stop for a stamp was the gift shop, which we quickly walked through before Carson could realize all the trains around that he would have course wanted, we almost got him a shirt with Thomas, but we decided against it in the end. Now we had one tent to go and this by far was his favorite tent.
The final tent included receiving a Thomas or Friend tattoo, coloring a Thomas page, and finally a tent set up with all sorts of Legos, and train sets for all ages. Carson played, and played, and played for about an hour and a half, and when it was time to go once again we had to take him kicking and screaming, he was just having so much fun and did not want to leave. While Carson was having the time of his life in the imagination station tent, Mama went and got him his prize and surprised him with it in the car! The prize was a few Mega blocks that we turned into a Thomas train as well as a packet of stickers of Thomas and his Friends, score!
Prize for going to all 4 activities
Before leaving the park we got to ride on the little helper train and boy does that thing go fast, much faster than I expected for sure. In fact when it started going Carson got a little scared and started to cry, but soon realized it was fun and going by the big steam engines made it all that more exciting!
Family Photo, even Sydni came along for the ride :)
By this time it was about 1:30 pm in afternoon and we were all about to die of starvation, just kidding but we were all a bit hungry, so we decided to say goodbye to the trains and head to find lunch on the town.
On the way to lunch, stay awake buddy!
We decided to go to Dickey's BBQ because we had been given two coupons for get one BBQ sandwich with a purchase of a large drink, turned out to be a really good meal at a really good discount. At the end of your meal you also got a complementary ice cream cone. We got a few good pictures of Carson eating an ice cream cone for the first time, I know he probably should have already done this, but he has never done this by himself and he did a pretty good job. To end the trip to Heber we visited Granny's and got a couple of their famous shakes, and then headed home.
Finger licking good!
No sooner did we get on the road home did Carson fall asleep, in fact he was so tired from his day of fun that he fell asleep with his finger in his mouth, silly boy. The rest of the afternoon and early evening has been filled with Carson playing with the other part of his early birthday present a set of trains from Ikea. It was a fun filled and enjoyable day to say the least. Thanks Thomas for letting us spend the day with you!
