Day Out with Thomas

http://www.thomasandfriends.com/usa/parents/dowt.html

http://www.gsmr.com/reservations/excursions.php

Xander's birthday gift this year was a weekend away to celebrate A Day Out with Thomas.

For those who don't know, Xander is a HUGE fan of all modes of transportation - but especially trains.

He is not crazy about Thomas's TV show - but his toys, are a big hit.

We left early on Saturday morning headed to Dillsboro to participate in A Day Out With Thomas.

We arrived in Dillsboro, in the rain, which is by far the cutest town I've seen!

The town had gone all out for Thomas day - not only did they have the big train on the Smokey Mountain Railway - but they had every other form of train toy out as well. There were model trains running around tracks, train tatoos, lego trains, train pictures to color, trains to play with in moon sand, huge bubble machines, sidewalk chalk, and more.

We parked our car one town over (that's how tiny Dillsboro is - you can walk to the next town!). They provided transportation in the coolest mode that my kids have ever seen - a school bus. Yes, a big yellow school bus. For a moment I thought we could have saved money on our train tickets and just rode around on the free shuttle all day!

Our kids wanted to sit in the back - is that a sign of things to come?

We rode the school bus to the festivities. We did it all - every train stop, we did!

We had lunch under the big tent while waiting for Sir Topham Hat to arrive. After getting our picture made, we boarded!

We had so much fun. The train played the Thomas theme song and we sang along. The conductor narrated our tour showing us different historical points in Dillsboro.

For those familiar with the movie The Fugitive, the scene where Harrison Ford escapes from the bus on the way to prison was filmed in Dillsboro - you can still see the bus!

After the train ride, we found the Dillsboro Chocolate Factory - they really should watch which brochures they put in the welcome center! While Tommy and I tried a chocolate treat (which was divine!), the kids each had the biggest pixie stick I've ever seen!

All in all, a great day.