Day Out With Thomas

Our little boy, so enthralled with his trains, was in for a treat today. We traveled up to the TN Railroad Museum to meet the real Thomas and Sir Topham Hat. It was the big "Day out with Thomas."

Before our train ride at 5:30, we walked around to the various events located underneath white tents. Our first stop was the Imagination Station. Train tables were set up for free play. Train tattoos were also available, but Rocco passed on those. He did get in on the action when it came to playing with the trains, both the Trackmaster and Wooden ones.

Meeting Sir Topham Hat was the next thing on the list. Jason held our place in line while Rocco and I bought some hot dogs and popcorn. Thankfully it was not very crowded on Friday afternoon. Our wait was very short. . . so was our meeting with the train conductor himself. Though he didn't speak to us, Rocco shook his hand. He kept a safe distance from him, too. Notice that I'm standing between him and Sir Topham Hat.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was playing golf. A mini course was set up outside, and Rocco had to play. He did not want anything to do with the petting zoo. That was fine with me. Less germs to worry about. After the story time station, it was nearly time to board the train. That's when the action began, or maybe I should call it drama.

Seeing Thomas from a distance was fine, but boarding him was another story. For some reason, Rocco freaked out on us. He clinched up in my arms and began crying. I assured him that everything was fine, but he protested and said, "No!" Walking up the train, turning this way and that inside a narrow passage, trying to find our seats did not make matters any better. There was still 12 minutes before the train left and Jason was convinced that it was not worth it. Obviously Rocco was not enjoying himself. That's when I reminded Jason how much I had spent on our tickets.

As a last resort, I picked Rocco up and carried him off of the train. The engineers were so kind to encourage him and assure him of how fun the ride would be and of all the animals we might see along the way. There was no assuring him though; he did not want back on that train.

By this time it was the final boarding call. I carried Rocco back on the train hoping that once we started rolling he would enjoy it. He was crying again. Jason was telling me at this point that it was probably a bad decision and that it was going to be a long train ride. . . all 25 minutes.

Thankfully, the train engineers allowed us to stand outside of the train, right where the trains join and are coupled together. Being able to look out and not feel trapped inside seemed to help Rocco. I kept his mind on Thomas and we kept looking at him. We talked about Annie and Clarabel, Thomas' coaches, and tried to keep him calm. Once he saw how slow Thomas was going, he felt much better, too. Any time we saw other trains, we would talk about who it was. We decided we found Arthur, Freddie, and Toby.

So much for our train seats; we spent half of our ride standing up outside the train door. Both of us were just glad that he was finally enjoying the train ride that we had talked so much about for the past few weeks.

Within about 10 minutes, he was ready to go inside the train and sit down. Watching him look out the window and take it all in made me glad that we stuck it out.

Hooray for Thomas!

I had planned on buying him some items at the gift shop, but there weren't any of the take along die cast trains that he plays with. He didn't go home empty handed; we bought him some new ones at Target after our supper. He now has Duke and Duncan. He must have thirty or more of them by now. But then again, you can never have too many trains.

Rocco's First Nature Walk

Living out in the country means that Rocco will be able to enjoy the woods and farm. Jason is a big outdoors man, much more so than me. Though I love God's creation and a warm spring day, I don't care too much for the heat. I'd rather be inside in the air condition. When summer comes, if I'm not in a swimming pool I'm probably inside. From the looks of it, it seems like Rocco is going to be more like his daddy in this area.

Rocco's already been in the woods numerous times on the golf cart and on the four wheeler, but this week he experienced his first nature trail away from home. Although we stayed in Pigeon Forge, we rode up to Gatlinburg to look for a pretty outdoor spot to spend some time. Right in the heart of the Smoky Mtn Park, we found this short trail. It was only 1/2 mile hike to a waterfall. It was really cool, though. At only 50F, we quickly walked there and back. Mainly just to say we'd been. Little man had it made. For most of the trail, he rode in his stroller all bundled up in a blanket. Rocco was already a little sick, but he really enjoyed it. It's not hard to see why. This place was beautiful!

Rocco the Golfer

Other than really liking Thomas the Train, Rocco really likes golf. That's his newest thing. My friend, Heather, gave him a gator golf game for his birthday. He's enjoyed it, but on our spring break get-away to the mountains he really took it up. After we took him to a putt putt course, that's all he wanted to do every day. Other than eat, shop, and sleep, we golfed. Four times I think. Once we went in the dark and golfed under a black light. Strange alien figures were all around and space music played really loud. I thought he'd be scared, but he was so into the golf game he didn't care. Later he even asked to go golf in the dark again.

Jason worked with him a lot on his grip. Within a few days, he was a little pro.

I still remember our first golf outing like it was yesterday. He had just turned one and had only been with us about a month. One of our first family adventures was watching Jason play golf. Rocco was not even walking yet, but he was a great caddy.

Looks like Rocco is living up to his name's sake. Three years ago, we decided on his name while watching a golf tournament on TV. Rocco Mediate was up. We liked the name and it stuck.One day they may be saying, "Rocco Willis" during the Master's. Watch out Tiger!

Happy Easter

The happenings surrounding Easter are those that give us hope. Without the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we would have no the promise of life. I am thankful that Scripture records the events following the crucifixion. For if the story of Jesus had ended on the cross, we would be miserable people indeed. The blood shed and death of the perfect Son of God paid the price for our sin debt. And praise to our God, He conquered death and defeated the grave so that we could have the promise of life everlasting.

I love reading about the various times Christ appeared to others after His resurrection. I'm amazed that those walking to Emmaeus and even Mary in the garden talked with the Lord and did not realize it was Him at first. I suppose we are the same way, though. Throughout our busy lives we don't take time to give God credit for all the work that He is doing around us. He is there, but just like those who lived in Bible times, we don't even realize it is Jesus who is right there beside us. If our eyes were open to that fact, I'm sure we'd live more joyous lives and be more excited about the things of God.

I wanted to post a few pictures of our Easter day. It was filled with fun and family. The morning service at church was great. Jason preached the message, and I worked with the children in children's church. Here's a cute shot of Rocco and Molly. She is his "girlfriend" at church. (Notice the watchful eyes of her brothers behind Rocco).

After church we had our Sunday lunch at Gary and Carolyn's house. Uncle Ben had to work, but Tonya, Drew, and Sydney were there. At only four months old, this was Sydney's first Easter.

The kids had to hide eggs in the front yard. The funniest part was watching Rocco get so involved this year in the annual event. He wanted to hide them from Drew and then help Drew find them.

When he hid the eggs from Jason, he took special interest into every egg, giving each of them a good hiding spot. All the while, he would point his bossy finger at Jason and say, "No peek daddy!"

Nana and granddaddy then proceeded to spoil the three grand kids with big Easter baskets stuffed with goodies. Here's Rocco with his. He loves candy. . . jelly beans, suckers, gum, and Kit Kats.

Without a nap, we headed up to my parents' house around three o'clock. Thankfully Rocco slept a little in the car. When we got there, Mimi was ready to hunt some eggs. She was also ready with an Easter bag of treats.

Papaw was eager to take us in a ride in his old truck that he'd fixed up. Rocco liked it when he revved up his engine, but he didn't like to go fast.

The final treat of the day was having my grandparents come over. Having young generations in my family has been such a blessing. I was blessed to know 3 of my great grandparents up into my twenties. At 32, I still have one great-grandmother alive. I'm so thankful that Rocco is now able to know his great-grandparents, too. They are so proud of him. Nana and papaw spoiled him a little more with a basket of candy and money. That's just the way grandparents are. . . grand!

Finding Easter Eggs at Papa's

Rocco had a great time Sunday at Papa's finding eggs with all the cousins.

Rocco's cousin, Baby Sydney, had her first egg hunting experience at Papa's this year. She was actually more into her Baby Einstein seat though.