A Day Out with Thomas at Essex, CT

My daughter had a FABULOUS time playing with the balloons.

Here comes Thomas puffing down the track! My son looking out the window during the train ride.

My son and daughter driving a fire engine from a local fire company near Essex, CT.

My son watching a model train set up at the museum.

My daughter playing at one of the several train tables that were set up in the museum.

Sunday afternoon the weather was absolutely gorgeous (nearly 70 and sunny), we got itchy to do something outside as a family, and we decided we'd go to the Mystic Marine Life Aquarium. The last time we went there, it was our tenth wedding anniversary. I took an adorable video of my son and the beluga whales they have there. The tank is built above ground so that you can watch the whales through the glass, and it looks like they're swimming right past you. My son kept running to try to catch the whales. They were swimming in circles, so they came around on a regular basis, so we told our son to call the whales and they would come. So he would say, "Whale! Whale!", the whale would come, and he'd run after it until it swam around the tank past where he could run. It was adorable. And.......I taped over it! So, we thought maybe we'd try to recreate the experience.

As we were driving, we passed the Essex Steam Train Museum, and I thought I remembered Thomas the Tank Engine was supposed to be in town around this time. We had done this over the summer in Massachusetts, and it was great. You can read about that here.

So, we decided to drive past and see if he was there...and there was Thomas! So, instead of the aquarium, we spent a day out with Thomas. Both my son and my daughter absolutely love Thomas. For the entrance fee, you get a half hour train ride (the train, of course, is pulled by Thomas), kiddie rides, musical entertainment, stories, tattoos, and photo ops with Sir Topham Hat and Thomas. The weather was perfect, and we had a great time being outside with the kids all day. The train ride was beautiful, and both kids were well worn out by the end of the day.