Day Out with Thomas!
We had a great day yesterday. We traveled to Felton (a hop above Santa Cruz on the coast), and spent the afternoon with Thomas the Tank Engine, one of Cam's birthday gifts, tho 'Elle got to enjoy it a lot more I think.
We rented a SUV Ford Escalade on Friday. Well, it was supposed to be a minivan, but the rental place had to put the van into the shop, so Rob was driven to a different location to pick up the SUV instead. We hated the SUV. No room for much anything other than our bodies. There wasn't even enough room in the "trunk" to put an ICE CHEST!! because the chest was too wide (by a couple of inches). So the ice chest ended up in a folded down seat in front of me.
Saturday morning, we all actually got up early, and out the door before 9am. The guys had spent the night to make it easy in the morning. I sat in the back with 'Elle, then Cam and docryder in the middle, with Rob driving and rwfranz in the front. It was hard to get in and out of that back seat area, so I will grumble even more about the SUV. We made it to Los Banos by 10:30 for a late breakfast/early lunch, then onto the coast. We made it to Felton where the railroad place was, Roaring Camp Railroads I think its called, in time to get in line for Thomas. We had tickets for car 1 right next to the blue train, which made Cam happy. After a long wait for the kids to get photos taken next to Thomas, we then chugged backwards and enjoyed the train ride. The look on 'Elle's face as I held her near the side looking down/out made me feel young again :-) I really needed that.
After the enjoyable trip through the native redwoods and ceders, we enjoyed the rest of the place, from bounce houses, to the various Thomas play stations. We even bought 'Elle an "Emily" train of her own, and Cam got a Thomas swim towel, along with a CD of Thomas music from the shows that we enjoyed on the way out. The kids were great, with only a few mishaps during the day. They otherwise were having fun, and no problems whatsoever. That was really nice.
Dinner was simple, once we located a McDs (Quiznos for most of the adults) in Watsonville. Then back on the road heading home to rest in our own beds. Thankfully, I was allowed to sleep in, which I really needed after last week's illness (which still kinda lingers).
The SUV rental has made me a firm believer that we need a minivan for this family, when we finally find one worth getting. I know SUVs are supposed to be good for carrying around a lot of things, and I've been in other SUVs that were smaller and nicer (like Joanne's Lexus hybrid SUV which is a luxury vehicle first). But this great "BEAST" is more gas hog, and not nearly as comfy as the most basic minivans we've rented and been in. My back is still sore from the bad back seat, too.
We rented a SUV Ford Escalade on Friday. Well, it was supposed to be a minivan, but the rental place had to put the van into the shop, so Rob was driven to a different location to pick up the SUV instead. We hated the SUV. No room for much anything other than our bodies. There wasn't even enough room in the "trunk" to put an ICE CHEST!! because the chest was too wide (by a couple of inches). So the ice chest ended up in a folded down seat in front of me.
Saturday morning, we all actually got up early, and out the door before 9am. The guys had spent the night to make it easy in the morning. I sat in the back with 'Elle, then Cam and docryder in the middle, with Rob driving and rwfranz in the front. It was hard to get in and out of that back seat area, so I will grumble even more about the SUV. We made it to Los Banos by 10:30 for a late breakfast/early lunch, then onto the coast. We made it to Felton where the railroad place was, Roaring Camp Railroads I think its called, in time to get in line for Thomas. We had tickets for car 1 right next to the blue train, which made Cam happy. After a long wait for the kids to get photos taken next to Thomas, we then chugged backwards and enjoyed the train ride. The look on 'Elle's face as I held her near the side looking down/out made me feel young again :-) I really needed that.
After the enjoyable trip through the native redwoods and ceders, we enjoyed the rest of the place, from bounce houses, to the various Thomas play stations. We even bought 'Elle an "Emily" train of her own, and Cam got a Thomas swim towel, along with a CD of Thomas music from the shows that we enjoyed on the way out. The kids were great, with only a few mishaps during the day. They otherwise were having fun, and no problems whatsoever. That was really nice.
Dinner was simple, once we located a McDs (Quiznos for most of the adults) in Watsonville. Then back on the road heading home to rest in our own beds. Thankfully, I was allowed to sleep in, which I really needed after last week's illness (which still kinda lingers).
The SUV rental has made me a firm believer that we need a minivan for this family, when we finally find one worth getting. I know SUVs are supposed to be good for carrying around a lot of things, and I've been in other SUVs that were smaller and nicer (like Joanne's Lexus hybrid SUV which is a luxury vehicle first). But this great "BEAST" is more gas hog, and not nearly as comfy as the most basic minivans we've rented and been in. My back is still sore from the bad back seat, too.