A Day out with Thomas!

We went to Strasburg a few weeks ago to partake in the Day out with Thomas festivities. It was an exciting and surprisingly organized weekend, so glad we went! We drove there on a Saturday afternoon, during both boys' naps. We checked in at the Willow Valley Inn in Lancaster, where I had stayed several times as a child. The hotel is SO child-friendly. We had a suite which included a room for Brent and me with a bathroom and a large living room with a sofabed for Jeremy and a metal crib for Caleb...and another bathroom and refrigerator! This was $159!! For a very nominal fee we could have added meals, but I wasn't up for a smorgasbord with such young children. They had a phenomenal water playground at the Double Tree next door which we were allowed to use. We walked around on the grounds and made use of the playground. We had dinner at the Willow Valley Inn's restaurant. The prices were unbelievably inexpensive and the food was surprisingly good! We were thrilled with the very child-friendly atmosphere.

The next morning we went to the historic Strasburg Rail Road for the main event. It was very well organized. We parked (for free) at the Sight and Sound Theatre (we definitely want to return and see something here -- biblical shows with special effects in a lovely theatre) and took a yellow school bus (VERY exciting for the kids!) to the Strasburg Rail Road. We enjoyed our ride on Thomas (which was really Thomas pulling the regular open car train), playing with train tables, riding on child-powered rides, riding on a mini-train, all sorts of things! It was a fun event! The next one is in November. We had lunch there, bought Jeremy a souvenir Percy train, and drove home during the afternoon naps. A very successful field trip and we will definitely be visiting Lancaster/Strasburg more!! Jeremy was very interested in the Amish, the farms, and we didn't get to visit the train museums!