He thought his boiler would burst

This morning, we all got up early (or to be more accurate, I just didn't try to coax Zachary back to bed for an extra hour or two) so we could go check out the (annual?) Day Out With Thomas at the Northwest Railway Museum in lovely Snoqualmie. Meh had to be at work at noon, but I think really this time worked out best regardless - we were among the first few there, and got to enjoy the outdoor parts of the museum a bit before the crowds arrived, and before queuing up for our very own Thomas ride. The event started off very well in Zachary's eyes with a ride on a real life school bus from the overflow parking lot - he was a huge fan, and it was a nice preview of what we'll be experiencing in a few months!

Next we had a series of queues, which will of course bore most any two- or three-year-old to tears, or at least whines. Meh and Owen bravely held our spot while Zachary and I circled downtown Snoqualmie. We then inadvertently stumbled onto the full-scale Thomas train we were going to later ride, and Zachary was quite excited ("It's Thomas!"). We returned to the museum as it opened, and explored a few of the engines before queuing again for Thomas himself. Zachary got an excellent sticker, and we got to enjoy a ride in a circa 1950s passenger car. (As I understand it, the cars and one of the engines run like this all the time for the museum; Thomas was a special addition at the rear, and became the front car when the train reached the midpoint, stopped, and headed the other direction.)

After our ride (which featured some excellent views of Snoqualmie Falls and River, as well as a bunch of fun older trains along the way), we toured around a bit. There was of course an uber-Thomas gift shop (we came away with a pez dispenser, an activity book, a viewfinder, and some stamps), a puppet show and storyteller tents (alas, neither starting until 11), temporary tattoos, a giant tent of Thomas train tables, some local kids-music musician performances (Zachary enjoyed the show from the platform of an old diesel train), and photo opportunities with the Thomas train (in between its runs) and a hopefully larger-than-life-size Sir Topham Hatt (the controller in the world of Thomas). Zachary was enthralled with Sir Topham Hatt -- we didn't get a picture of it, but when I first brought him up, he actually touched his plush oversized hand. No shyness here!

Today was day three of my four-day stint solo with the boys, as Meh works her consecutive weekend shift. It's been exhausting but also a lot of fun; we went for another walk today in the mild summer weather, and Owen conked out in his sunhat while Zachary asked to get down from the stroller and ran around while I tried to keep up with him. These boys drive a grueling workout!