June 18, 2011

Not long ago, my husband, Brian, mentioned that he would like to take our son Alex out to ride the train at the “Day Out with Thomas” in Hood River. On Saturday Brian had the day off, and we had nothing planned. I pulled up the events calendar on the Inflatable Kingdom web-site to see if anything caught my eye and noticed that “Day Out with Thomas” was taking place over the weekend. A few phone calls later and Brian, Brian’s dad Wayne, our son Alex, and I were all going on a train ride that afternoon at 3:45 pm.

We headed out to Hood River extra early just in case. When we got to Hood River we were directed to a large grass lot where we parked, then we rode a school bus the short distance to the event. This was Alex’s first ride on a bus, and he appreciated that he did not have to be strapped into a car seat for it.

The event had a whole fair set up with kids activities. When we arrived, we were given a map with four spots for stamps. If you got all four spots stamped in the fair, you got a prize when you left. We had plenty of time, so we got all of our stamps and were rewarded with a goody bag that included some Mega Blocks and a Thomas card.

We passed the storytime area where Thomas was playing on a video, and Alex played with some huge blocks for a bit. We walked by a miniature train that was giving rides to kids. It looked like lots of fun, but we elected not to send Alex out on it as he would not be comfortable by himself.

Our next stop was the Imagination Station where Alex colored and played with toy trains and a raised sand box. Then he played mini golf, and we were all very proud when he hit a hole in one on his first swing without his dad’s help (though he only did once). We browsed at the gift shop full of Thomas goodies where Alex would have liked to buy everything. There was also a place to get photos with Sit Topham Hatt, and vendors selling carnival food including fried Twinkies, candy bars and Dr Pepper (which we passed on).

There were three inflatables at the fair including a ball pit, a bounce house, and slides. Alex was not brave or big enough to go in any of them by himself though, so I just bounced him on the entrance on one for a moment. The inflatables at the fair were very popular, and there were a lot of kids using them, so adults were not allowed in with the kids. Alex will have to stick with the inflatables at Inflatable Kingdom for now since there are a lot less kids there, and I can be with him in the bounce house for support.

Finally it was time for our train ride. We loaded up onto Thomas’s train. The train was not very full for our ride, though all of the earlier rides had been sold out. We spread out in the box car and Alex had fun looking out the windows at the scenery as we passed and walking back and forth between the three of us.

It was a fun ride, but it was over before we knew it and we got out and took pictures with Thomas. Then we left the fair and walked over to downtown to shop and eat dinner. At last we walked back to the car and drove back to Portland after a day of fun activities with Thomas.

“Day Out With Thomas” continues next weekend June 25 to 26. Tickets are $18 + service fees (kids under 2 are free). Parking is $3. More information can be found at http://www.mthoodrr.com/thomas/main.html.

No related posts.