A Day Out with Thomas at Edaville USA!

If you have a young child, a great place to go is Edaville, USA in South Carver, MA. It's an amusement park for young children. It reminds me of a place my parents brought me when I was a little girl called the Fairy Tale Forest. There, you got to walk through lots of fairy tales and see where they all "live", and there was a train that went through Candy Land. It was magical. Unfortunately, it's also long gone.
At Edaville, USA they have a train that goes through a fairy tale forest so that you can see the actual location where the cow jumped over the moon, and if you've ever wondered where the gingerbread man lives, you can plainly see he lives with his family in a gingerbread house of course! At Christmastime, they have lots of light displays that the train runs through.


They also have kiddie rides and old engines that the kids can climb all over. It's great anytime of year. However, once a year, someone special comes to visit.

Thomas the Tank Engine! And they have a tent set up where there's a story time and a music show where they let the kids play along with whatever instrument they'd like. There was a music parade too, which was very cute, and the kids and parents got to march all around the tent.

Finally, the main event. A ride on Thomas through the fairy tale forest. It was a nice, 20 minute ride...not too long, not too short. The breeze was lovely. We went on one of the few days when there was some sunshine. Of course, just about as soon as we left, the rain came back, but we had a lovely Day Out with Thomas.

The best part of the whole day was when my son first saw Thomas driving around the rail. He was absolutely beside himself with excitement, and he broke out into a run crying out, "Thomas! Thomas!". Thankfully, we were far enough away that I could catch up with him long before he got to close to the train! But it was absolutely adorable. My son had a wonderful, wonderful time, and my infant daughter enjoyed herself too.

So, if you're ever in the area with little kids, it's a great place to go.

Holly Hobbie

I love this bonnet. It's a present from Grandma, and it looks like a Holly Hobbie bonnet (for those who remember Holly Hobbie). My daughter is so cute, I can't stand it.

New Button and Blog Picture

My new button and new blog picture are a photo that I took at a place called Sam's Point in Cragsmoor, NY. It's the tallest point of the Shawangunk Ridge (which I try very hard to pronounce shong-gum, or "The Gunks" because that's how the locals pronounce it), and from this vantage, you can see NY (of course), MA, CT, PA, and NJ. It's probably the most beautiful vista I've ever seen. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I imagine it must be a similar experience here, in that you can see so very far, and the scene looks more like a painting than reality. It truly is my spot.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of the Summer session of school, and I just put my son on the bus. It came 15 minutes early, so thank goodness, we were ready and already on our way down the stairs. My son was decked out in some new clothes and shoes, and a new "Thomas the Tank Engine and His Friends" backpack. He also has a new notebook with family pictures in it of our little vacation to Boston where he got to meet Thomas and go to the New England Aquarium (more about that in another post). He loves to look at pictures, and having pictures of his family at school helps him to get adjusted because he can look at us whenever he misses us.

The bus comes at 7:30, which is really early. My son comes home at 1:30, which seems really early. LOL Up here, it's in the 50's in the morning, and it doesn't get up to 80 or so until later in the afternoon, so there's no quick dips in the pool before my son gets home for me. Oh well.

My son was up until after 11 pm last night, and I thought he'd be a monster this morning, but I guess he was excited to go back to school, because he got right up, didn't fight me while getting ready, and walked right down the stairs, and got right on the bus. That's a true blessing.

Of course, a lot of it has to do with singing. Music calms the savage beast, they say, and I guess it's true. My son behaves a lot better when I sing. That means if I'm sick, and I can't sing, or I'm feeling too miserable to sing, our days are very difficult. So, we sang "I've been working on the Railroad", filling in all the names of "Thomas the Tank Engine and His Friends" for Dinah. Now I should have an hour or so before the baby wakes up (I hope), so that I can have some nice, peaceful time to do some housework. Not that I haven't been working since 6:30 anyway, getting lunches and breakfasts together, getting my husband out the door and then my son, but now I can get some other things done.
So, without further ado, I should get straight to work!

A Year of Firsts

Well, we've nearly completed a year of firsts since my father passed away. His first birthday without him, the first Christmas without him, the first anniversary of his death...it's over. The last one is the one year anniversary of his burial, but somehow, that one doesn't seem to affect me as much. I feel like it's time to start over and move on now.
Yesterday I spent the day with my Mom (and of course my kids), and we started the day with a memorial mass. Then we had lunch together, and went out to the cemetery. I had originally made a little garden after my grandfather died, but since I've moved so far away from the cemetery, I haven't been keeping it up. I passed the gardening tools on to my Mom so that she could become the new garden tender.
I had originally planted the garden mostly for my Mom, and had bought a robin to place in the garden. It was absolutely adorable. However, over time, the robin eventually flew away (i.e. someone removed him). Since then, we've been unable to find a suitable replacement. In addition, my Mom wanted to add something special for my father and her brother (who died within a week of my father last year).
So, on the way to the cemetery, I took her to the little gardening shop where I had found the original robin, and she found a new robin. This robin was so plump! It's absolutely endearing. The funny thing was that just that morning she was telling me that she had just seen the fattest robin she'd ever seen. We assumed she was "with egg". She also found an adorable turtle. My father had a pet turtle that he loved, and so this was very special.
She had planted some new items in the garden, and it looks beautiful. Someone else had also left flowers at the grave. The robin and turtle made it look cheerful, if it's possible for a grave to be cheerful. My son found a special rock and put it on top of the stone. It was a nice day of reflection.

My Dad

On this day one year ago, my father had a massive stroke. He died about 18 hours later at the hospital after my Mom found him unresponsive at home. Last night I was very sad thinking about how last year, that was the last night he was alive. That was the night my parents celebrated their anniversary, because my Mom wasn't home the day before. My Mom cooked a special dinner of leg of lamb. At 7:30 this morning, I thought about how that was about the time when my Mom found my Dad, and right about now was when we got the phone call that something was seriously wrong with my Dad.
My husband was with him when he died around 3 in the morning. I'll never, ever forget that. My Dad didn't die alone. We were all sitting vigil, taking turns, ensuring that he wouldn't die alone. We didn't expect him to make it through the night. It was supposed to be my shift, but my husband didn't want me to drive in to Jamaica, Queens alone, so he went in my place. He thinks my father didn't want to die with my Mom or any of us children, and waited for him to be there to let go.
My husband sat up with me last night rubbing my back until I fell asleep. I don't think there's a more kind and loving husband in the entire world. I love him so much, and I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

1 Peter 5:7

I have a dry erase board up in my kitchen where I copy down whatever is in my calendar for the week as well as grocery items as I run out of them. On the bottom, I write an inspirational Bible quote each week. This week's Bible quote is from 1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast your cares upon the Lord, for He cares about you."
I've been feeling very stressed lately because my daughter is teething, has reflux, and never, ever wants to be put down. She hasn't even been taking naps lately. I have even affectionately referred to her as my little screaming tumor.
Of course, I also have a 4 year old with special needs who has been sick one way or another for the past six months, as has passed on just about every single illness to me.
And, of course, there's life in general.
So, lately, I've been choosing inspirational quotes having to do with frustration, stress, and anxiety. Interestingly enough, one of the Christian radio stations I listen to has been having a series this week on just those subjects. It's been very comforting to listen to talks about remembering to trust in God, and how worrying is downright sinful because it means you don't trust that God is handling everything for your own ultimate, if not immediate, good.
Last night, the Bible quote they were discussing was the one on my dry erase board. I thought that was so neat.
I know these are things I will continue to struggle with, but it's good to know that no matter what, everything is going to be okay.