He's the Cheeky One

Upon meeting new people, the first thing Henry says is not "My name is Henry", nor is it "Nice to meet you".  Rather he says "I have Thomas."  Most people respond, "Oh, is your name Thomas?"  A reasonable question.  I have to explain that he simply wants all he meets to know that he has Thomas the Tank Engine. It is the thing that best describes him, and in some sad way, his love for Thomas is what defines him.  We can be at the playground and he will suddenly declare, "I need to go home and play with Thomas."  He'll turn down chocolate milk to build with Thomas Legos.  We have Thomas crayons, stickers, coloring books, Pez dispensers, paint by number books, pillow cases, blankets, vidoes, books, bath toys, in addition to mile upon mile of wooden track, train stations, and Thomas and Friends trains.  We sing the Thomas theme song while he washes his hands and brushes his teeth.  When Henry is angry he exclaims "Cinders and Ashes!"  And to really motivate him, I simply say to him, "I need you to be a really useful engine."  He has even asked if Jesus knows Thomas.  Perhaps the better question would be does Thomas know Jesus, but it was sweet none the less. 

So it cannot be stated enough that this past Saturday Henry has his "Vote for Pedro" moment where all his dreams came true.  We headed up to Strasburg Railroad in Lancaster County, PA for the occasion with our buddy Deb and her son Jack.  (Whom Henry loves almost as much as he loves Thomas.) 

We're ready to go meet Thomas!

He had been asking if it was Saturday for two weeks.  Thank you Sloan for telling him too far in advance.

Running to meet everyone's favorite blue engine...

Seriously.  How cute are my kids? 

Riding the Cranky Cars.  Peep!  Peep!

Riding Thomas. 

The conductor came by and took tickets and placed his cap on the kids heads.  So someone could then take your picture and you could buy it.  We're cheap.  We snapped pics ourselves.  And Henry loved his special Thomas engineer cap too much to wear the Conductor hat.

 In the middle of what was supposed to be her afternoon nap, this is the face of a girl who hadn't napped all day.  She also woke up with two more teeth the next day.  I think adopting has brought into our family someone who is easy going and doesn't complain.  So we've helped our grandchildren out in a big way...

By the end of the day, Henry's nose had snotted all over his face, his lips were chapped, and he was talking like Kathleen Turner.  But this didn't stop him from telling me, "Mommy, this is my favorite day.  Thank you, thank you.  You are wonderful for bringing me to Thomas."