Day out with Thomas

Yesterday was one of the best days ever. First of all it was Mother's Day which is reason to celebrate in itself. And to me, Mother's Day is like Lyla's birthday since she was born on Mother's Day. But yesterday was extra special because we got to spend the day with Thomas the Train! Thomas made his way to Greenfield Village. This was the perfect venue for Thomas as you felt like you were on the Island of Sodor and Thomas was taking us for a ride to show us his island and the village had many similarities to the Island of Sodor. Lyla was super excited about this event. In the morning we just started talking about Thomas and said to Lyla 'Lets go for a drive and see if we can find Thomas.' Sure enough, we found him - and oh it was a great day!

Here is Lyla seeing Thomas coming around the bend of the track when we got there. She was so excited and pleased that we had truly found Thomas. Here he was - our first sighting of our beloved engine.

We quickly made our way to the train station as we were on the next ride. Here we are waiting for Thomas to come into the station to pick us up. Lyla brought her own Thomas on the ride.

Here he comes to get us!

Love this picture.. Lyla with Thomas' number 1 as he coasted into the train station.

Getting ready for the train to leave the station. Can you tell we were excited??

Enjoying the scenery sitting on Daddy's lap as Thomas chugged along.

The one handed family photo as the train rode along.. Truly - Lyla loved it. Even though in this picture she looks bored to death!

The train went through the village and then out into the woods. Here is a shot of Thomas going around the corner, steaming along, pulling his cars.

Back in the station admiring Thomas...

Here is a Cranky the Crane!

Daddy and Lyla strolling along the street to go find Sir Topham Hat...

While Daddy was waiting in line to see Sir Topham Hat, Lyla and I went to the Shed to see where Thomas sleep and to see his wash down station where he has his bath.. Here is the shed and the turntable so Thomas can turn around and go back to work.

This steam engine was warming up as we were walking around.. Here is was blowing his horn at Lyla.

Oh finally! Sir Topham Hat! Lyla wanted to say Thank you to 'Topham Hat' for bringing Thomas to visit us. She whispered it so quiet when we got up to him, but she did thank him.

Here is Topham Hat and Lyla!

It was a perfect day to blow bubbles. They had a tent with bubble wands and Lyla enjoyed this.

Next Lyla went onto the driving track and drove around some small cars. She loved this as well..

Of course, more Thomas photos -- here he comes into the station again....

Lyla looking at Thomas in awe...

A real close of up Thomas... Here Lyla got her picture taken with Thomas. We got a family shot as well, which we purchased and I put it in a frame in Lyla's room. That was the first thing she talked about this morning was her picture of Thomas and us.

The great thing about the village was that it was widespread and you could go away from the crowds and see Thomas coming without a lot of people around.. Here he was coming around the bend...

As he passed by us...

Here was our little engineer as she was waiting for Thomas to pass by..

Other sights to see where the horses - another favorite for Lyla. You could go for horse carriage rides, model t car rides, and old bus rides through out the village..

We opted for the 100 year old carousel. Lyla had a hard time waiting in line for this, but she absolutely loved it and was very disappointed when her turn was over! Here are some cute pictures of her looking for me in the crowd...

Oh boy was she ever proud of her ride on the carousel!

After the carousel, we went to the gift shop and then made one more stop over to the station to see Thomas one last time...

Looking at the time on her new Thomas watch. Funny - every time Lyla checks the time it is 8 o-clock!

Happy Muma's Day!

Lets just say Lyla felt the water with her hands and wanted to go for a swim too!

Exactly 12 minutes after getting in the car here was our girl....

A day out with Thomas was one of the best family days we have had in a long time. Greenfield village provides the best setting for this venue. I would highly highly recommend this for children who love trains and love Thomas. Or as a matter of fact any child would love this. We worried that Lyla would be too young - but she enjoyed all that the day out had to offer. It was perfectly timed as a birthday outing for Lyla as well! We are already looking forward to going again next year.

Today Lyla has worn her Day out with Thomas shirt, played with her new train set, has taken her Thomas Balloon everywhere she has gone and has talked and talked about Thomas! It was so great! I am so glad that we got to go! Thanks Thomas for such a great day out!

Go Jump in Puddles

This week when Lyla and I went grocery shopping there where rain puddles in the parking lot. She got a huge smile and said to me 'go jump in puddles". I told her no because she was where sandals and socks (yes I know - it is a fashion statement, but when a toddler wants something there is no reasoning with her). Anyways, she giggled about this and was eager to get outside after shopping to again ' go jump in puddles' and this time I did allow for a quick puddle jumping before riding home.
Today the rain had come down hard as we were getting dressed. We opened the window and listened to the rain pouring and even sang 'Its raining! Its pouring! The old man is pouring!'. It cleared and I said to Lyla lets go outside and jump in the puddles. Needless to say, I didn't have to ask her twice. We got on her froggie boots, a hat because she wanted a 'rain hat', and her raincoat - which I don't have. And don't forget her purse! Which I think was a kick back to shopping on Monday because she had her purse then. Of course I took like 100 pictures, here are some of the jumping in puddle pictures for your enjoyment.

Here is one of the initial run through. At first she would just run through them. Then I showed her how to slash in them.

Having a good look at that puddle.

Splash! Splash! Splash!A good action shot of the water coming off her froggie..

One jump...

And one BIG jump....

And kerplunk! She had to jump RIGHT into the puddle...
Checking out the water, as it soaks into her pants..

One dirty and wet bum as she continues to run, jump, splash, giggle, and generally have a ball!

More Splash! Splash! Splash!

Good work froggies!! You sure are dirty! I bet you had just as much fun as Lyla did!

Then the garbage truck came - which is another post all in itself! Hope you are all enjoying the rainy day!

Easter 2010

The Easter Bunny came hoping into town for Lyla a few weeks ago because I had to work on Easter. We had a great time celebrating Easter as a family and here are some photos from our day.

Lyla got up and found a basket full of goodies for her in the window. It wasn't long until she went on the hunt for the eggs. In retrospect we could have hidden the eggs harder as she was a pretty good egg finder. It also didn't take long until Lyla was into the Chocolate. Lyla is a huge Chocolate lover . There are only a few days in the year where you get to eat Chocolate for breakfast and Easter is one of them. Sure enough, she was into her chocolate bunny in a flash.

Then the egg hunt ensued. Here she is looking in her shopping cart...
and Ta-da! She found one! She was so excited to find eggs. It was very cute!

Another one was behind her rocking chair, and here she is happy to have retrieved this one too!

The week before the true Easter we went to the mall to see the Easter bunny. We actually went to another mall to see him on our Easter Day, but he wasn't as good. So here she is with the Easter bunny.

There was a toddler play area and a large center area with games, coloring, hula hoops and all sorts of good things at the mall. Lyla loved this so much that we went 2 times this week. Here she is enjoying playing at the mall. She had a ball!

All in all, it was a great Easter. Lyla was into the Easter Bunny this year. She understood that the Easter Bunny brought her treats. She sings and dances around to 'Here Comes Peter Cottontail'. She enjoys reading Easter books and pretending that she is a bunny by hopping around. Hope you all had a great Easter too!

A visit with Kayley

About a month ago, we made the trip to the GTA to meet our young niece Kayley Jessica. It was a real treat to get to meet this little miss. Lyla was excited to get to see her too. Lyla was interested in Kayley, and even now when she sees anything to do with babies she tells me that it is 'Baby Kayley's'. Here are some pictures from our meeting with Kayley.



Here is Lyla giving Kayley a cousin hug.

And a cousin kiss...

And here are G and G.G. with the girls - Grandma and Great Granny that is.

We all had a great visit with Kayley and cant wait to see her again.

Lyla's First Birthday Party

At the beginning of March, Lyla's friends Charlotte and Jack had the 2nd birthday party. This was the first birthday party that Lyla had ever been invited to or attended for children her own age. Jennifer (C and J's mom) had 3 parties that weekend. This being the first at a play center in which she invited 16 2 year olds! Lyla had a complete ball! And I think all the kids did too! Thanks Jennifer for a great party!

Here are Charlotte and Jack playing at the grocery stand.

The party was at a place called Kiddie Klub and Lyla and I are looking forward to a rainy day in which we can go back in play. It has a large play structure and smaller rooms for dress up play, puppets, pretend play - kitchen and stuff, and a large play table. It is a great place to go and play and even eat. As there is a cafeteria with healthy food choices as well. This would be a great place for a play date.

Anyways, here are the kiddies sitting down for the lunch. My girly didn't sit too long, but she did for a short while...Cake time! Lyla was very excited to get a front row seat for this event. She loves cake to eat and she loves candle time.
Here is Lyla climbing up the large play scape. I had to go up with her - it was fun!