I finally got around to uploading the pix from our third annual trip to A Day Out With Thomas (ADOWT) in Strasburg, PA (two weeks ago). It was a great trip, and we had tons of fun, as you can clearly see! We’ve analyzed the trips to determine how to maximize the fun next time, and we’ve come to an interesting conclusion. Even though Thomas the Tank Engine was the original reason we made the trek up there, I think we’ll skip him next year. Evan still loves him, but the exuberance is waning. The Thomas ride itself is short and boring, and you can’t see the engine when you’re in a coach car! We enjoy all the other things we’ve found in Strasburg, but it’s such a mad tourist nightmare during Thomas week. We’d like to see what the place is like without all the (other) obnoxious kids and parents.

Speaking of, I’d like to comment on the particular brand of parenting that an event like ADOWT attracts. It’s always quite revealing: over-weight 2-year-olds with candy in each fist, 3-year-olds with pacifiers, 4-year-olds on leashes, 5-year-olds with sippy cups, 6-year-olds with foul language on their teeshirts, 7-year-olds with dyed mohawks, and a veritable choir of whining, wailing, and begging to which the parents bow down and acquiesce. Sure, you see little bits of this everywhere, but here it was en masse. That, together with the general lack of regard for the Amish countryside and all the blatant commercialism, is the kind of thing we’d like to distance ourselves and our children from.

So, if we go back next year, it will be a different weekend. We’ll get to stay at the Red Caboose Inn without having to book a room a year in advance, and we’ll basically have the place to ourselves. I’m interested to see how different the experience is and if our kids will appreciate it more. I hope so.