Hoose House Hold: We Love Thomas the Tank Engine...and the Amish!

When Hunter was two, he had a toddler obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine. For Christmas, we took him to the Strasburg railroad for the Day Out With Thomas event where you get to ride on a train pulled by Thomas. It was awesome and Hunter loved it thoroughly. Though his obsession dwindled, he never stopped talking about the ride and continually asked if we could go back. We finally got up enough nerve to take a four hour drive with two infants in tow and invited my sister, Aubrey and her kids and my mom and little brother. It was a ton of fun and we also made it to a quaint little amusement park called Dutch Wonderland. It's geared toward younger kids, and since they're what we have plenty of, it was perfect for us.

We stopped for a picnic lunch on the way there and let the kids run off some energy in a field at the rest area. Lined up are: My little brother Noah, My sister Emily's youngest Eli, Hunter, and Aubrey's two kids Nadia and Malacai. The twins don't stand on their own yet and were chowing down on turkey sandwiches and goldfish crackers just to the left. Our kids are extremely fair skinned and Tom noted that Hunter looks like the cream of an Oreo cookie.

Here's the whole crew(minus my mom and me) waiting for Thomas to pull into the station. We missed our scheduled train, but there were no worries, they just put us on the next one. This is a very popular event and it was extremely crowded. We had perfect weather, and all the kids were really well behaved and patient. I recommend this to anyone who has a Thomas lover. It is a really fun time with lots of other activities besides the train ride.

Gryffin claps for Thomas as he pulls into the station. Olivia mastered clapping quite a while ago, but it is a new skill for Gryffin. He couldn't be more pleased with himself. It's the cutest.

Olivia's first Carousel ride was awesome! She loved every minute of it and screeched and squealed with delight. I think we've got a real thrill seeker on our hands which will be quite a change from the ever so cautious Hunter.

My mom with her three newest grandchildren. It was the end of the day and everyone was ready to go home. We had a great time in Lancaster and the kids got a kick out of the Horse and buggies(equipped with turn signals) driving around. Next time, we'll plan to stay a little longer and bring a babysitter for the kids so we can see some of the more historical sights and Amish farms with homemade root beer(yummy).