Finn's Big Day with Thomas the Train

This day has been on our calendar for a while--since February I think. Because if you are a little boy with a heartbeat, then you know about Thomas the Train. And it just so happened that Thomas was making a special trip from his home on the Island of Sodor to Baltimore, MD . . . what are the chances? Since he was coming so close to us, we knew we had to go and see him. Because the island of Sodor is a long way away and it doesn't look like we will be visiting anytime soon. We met our good friends Alisha and Sam for a big day of Thomas festivities.

And what a big day it was. The crowd consisted of every little boy in within a 200 mile radius with an occasional little sister thrown in for good measure. It was a Thomas bonanza. I have to say that the organizers of this event are excellent marketers because the big ticket item . . . the Ride with Thomas was basically a ride on Baltimore's public transport cars . . . with Thomas in front. Now, I have to admit, even I was a little bummed out. Because if you've ever taken public transportation, especially in Baltimore, you know it's nothing to get excited about. So for the past few months I've been telling Finn all about riding on Thomas and the time finally arrived and we are so excited and then we "board" the platform, drumroll please . . . only to walk right past Thomas ("no touching, please") straight onto an old MARC train where we must remain seated for the remainder of the trip. Just to show everyone what he thought of that, he took a big ol' #2 which I had to change right there on the seat in front of everyone. Anyway, we made it through the "train" ride and I think there were police escorts on dirt bikes following us (that's how sketchy the neighborhood was) and at the end Finn got his Little Engineer certificate which he promptly wadded up and handed back to me. Finn and Samantha did manage to have a blast, bouncing back and forth from seat to seat and calling out "all aboard" and "choo, chooo" to anyone who would listen.

After the train ride, you had the option of WAITING in a long line to have your picture taken with Thomas. Which would have been awesome if you are the kind of parent who enjoys having your eyelashes pulled out one by one. Because that's what it is like to wait for anything when you have a squirmy toddler in tow. Alisha and I took one look at the line and decided the memories just weren't worth it. So we headed to the tattoo booth, kiddie train and moon bounce for a real good time. Finn and Sam wore themselves out playing, running around, jumping, climbing and causing mayhem in general. And as if that wasn't enough fun, we retired to Sam's house where they took a short nap and playtime continued in the yard. It was a very long day, but a very fun day.

What trouble looks like:

Getting his first ink

Tattoo partners in crime

Finn leads the way to more trouble

Big train, little boy

There he is!

"Hey, what are these bars here for?"

Thomas in all of his train glory

Now that's more like it:

Finn and Samantha get to drive their own car

Someone is having a

really,

really good time!

Taking a rare break to bounce mom's way

As close to Thomas as we could get

Finn: "Hey Samantha, are you thinking what I'm thinking? . . ."

"1, 2, 3, gooooooo"

Conehead

"Hey Sam, this will look great with your outfit."

Locked Out

Most of you know that I am no stranger to being locked out of the house. I've lost keys in rivers and down elevator shafts among other places. It became so frequent that the week we move into a new place, we make many, many copies of our key and give them to everyone we know, because the chances are really high that we will come knocking one day soon to borrow that key back to let ourselves back into our house. I say "our" because Mark has gotten just as bad about doing it as I am.

So, imagine my surprise today when I found myself locked out of my house and I was not at fault. That's right, my precious little Finn locked me out of the house while I was taking out the recycling. And not the front door because that would have been too easy to run over to my neighbor to get a spare key. No, he locked the storm door, which has no key. So there I am banging on my own front door telling Finn, "hey honey let mommy in the door." While he is turning the lock to no avail. He finally shuts the main door so that he can stick his hand through the mail slot to wave at me. And then he goes to the window so he can watch.

Well, thank goodness that my neighbor is a contractor because I ran over to get him and he brought his tools and I was back inside in less than a few minutes. And I know he's thinking, poor kid, stuck inside his house all alone, he must be terrified. And I'm thinking, oh no, he's stuck in the house all by himself, he will TEAR THE PLACE APART! Of course he was fine, sitting as his table eating his snack like nothing was wrong.

Charleston

One of the good things about Mark traveling for work is that sometimes we get to go too! He had a meeting scheduled in Charleston, one of my most favorite places on earth, and we jumped at the chance to tag along. Finn had never been to Charleston so I was happy that he got to see the place where his mom and dad met and married. Not that it matters much to him, but it did to me. The weather was perfect! We did some sightseeing, caught up with old friends, and ate some yummy food.

On Friday we took Finn to see Miss Banner for his first official photo shoot. Yes, the child is two and has never had professional pictures made. Boo me. However, it was worth the wait in my opinion. Banner is a wonderful photographer (see here) and it was especially meaningful that she photographed Finn because she was also our wedding photographer nearly 6 years ago. I had this feeling that it might not go as planned because doesn't Murphy's Law say something about whenever the stars align for your wedding photographer to photograph your first child, said child will act like a maniac and his hair will be weird. I think it's law # 23. Anyway, getting Finn to cooperate to have his picture taken was very similar to trying to wrestle a greased pig with one arm. But, we took lots of pictures, so I am hoping at least one will turn out. Stay tuned . . . I will post when we get them back.

Also on Friday, one of Finn's favorite cousins, Mary Daniel, came down to hang out with him. On Saturday, Finn went back to Sumter with Paige and MD to spend some time with his Sumter relatives. He loves his cousins Luke and MD because they are so wonderful to him. He even had his first sleepover, but something tells me that MD won't be asking to share her bed with him anytime soon. He kicks. And sleeps sideways. Or so she says. Anyway, while Finn was having fun in Sumter, I was having fun in Charleston ALL BY MYSELF. But the party had to end because I had to go back to DC for Jury Duty. Alas, I have no pictures to show from our time in Charleston.

Side note: After spending all day Monday at the DC courthouse, I was released as a juror because come to find out that being a stay-at-home mom of a 2 year old is considered a "hardship." I'm so glad that someone else agrees with me (just kidding . . . kind of).

Cherry Blossom Festival

Washington DC is a beautiful place to be in the spring. Too bad "spring" only lasted a couple of days. As I am writing this it is already in the 90's. But, I'm not complaining because there isn't any snow! The Cherry Blossom Festival is taking place and we wanted to take a walk to see what the fuss was all about. The cherry blossom trees were really beautiful but the thousands of people also enjoying the blossoms were not. Keeping up with "Lightening McFinn" is tough enough but with all of those people, nearly impossible. So, we saw the sights and then found a nice spot close to the mall that wasn't so crowded, so Finn would have plenty of space to run.

Now you see it . . .

Now you don't!

to which Finn replied, "oh, well."

kisses from my main squeeze

Lightening McFinn

All tuckered out

Special Delivery from the Easter Bunny

The Easter bunny made a special delivery to our house on Easter morning. And being the gracious host that he is, Finn left some baby carrots outside just so E.B. would have even more incentive to come by. He brought lots of goodies like bubbles, sidewalk chalk, but most importantly, he brought CANDY!!! I always feel sorry for the Sunday school teachers and nursery workers on Halloween, Valentine's and Easter . . . when they get a room full of hyped up, over-sugared kids released into their care. And we were no different. We went to church and celebrated Easter and then came home so Finn could slip into a chocolate coma :)

The only way to get Finn to pose for pictures was to give him candy.

Mine is Better Than Yours

This conversation took place over the weekend when we ran into a daddy/daughter pair that we occasionally see on our walks. You can't make this stuff up.

Me: Finn this is Alex. Do you remember her? We saw her in the park last week, she was riding that scooter that you liked.

Alex: I have a blue scooter

Finn: I have a penis

Score:

Alex: 0

Finn: 1

Bunnyland

On Friday we went to Butler's Orchard with our friends Samantha and Alisha to visit their annual Bunnyland. It was a perfect day to be outside which meant that a million other moms had the same idea that we had. But there were wide open spaces and plenty of activity so everyone was happy. Finn and Samantha got to hunt for eggs, take a ride down a giant slide, pet chicks, bunnies, lambs and a stray dog or two, ride trains, run through the grass and Samantha was brave enough to take a pony ride. At first Finn was also game, but as soon as he was sitting on the pony, he decided it wasn't for him after all and bailed. But, he was a good sport and cheered on Sam as she took two laps on the back of her pony. It was a great day and afterwards we celebrated at the best kids' restaurant on earth . . . Chic fil A!