A blog about me and my adventure as an ex-pat.
Because someone told me to... Thank you Gaby.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

hey there thomas!

How did we choose to spend Mothers' Day?! Lazing around the house?! At a spa?!

Nope...

We went to meet Thomas. After all, the reason I was celebrating was because of my beautiful children, so what better way to celebrate than to spend a fun family day out at a museum. Right?!

Well OK, a day on the sofa with a latte and a box of chocolates, watching a good movie, would have been fun too but it's not really me!

I did get breakfast in bed, delivered by two excited kids, ladened with cards and presents. I enjoyed a precious few minutes of quiet time (whilst trying to ignore the chaos of our morning routine downstairs) and a shower in peace!

We packed up the car with a picnic, donned several layers of warm clothing (Spring mysteriously disappeared this weekend and we actually got caught in a hail shower!) and drove a couple of hours to the Henry Ford museum just outside Detroit.

We had tickets for the 2pm train and it was amazing how fast the afternoon flew by. The kids were in awe of Thomas, the sound of his whistle and the steam blowing out of his chimney. Toby had his head hanging out the side of the carriage the whole way round and ended up with black ash on his face! Charlotte loved waving to all of the people we passed and enjoyed it in her usual quiet, thoughtful way. Toby was so excited he refused to pose for a photo. He just wanted to stare at Thomas! It's amazing how they are totally taken in by it all and are so excited to ride with Thomas!

They had a play area with old-fashioned tin toy cars. They were tricky to manoeuvre and pedal but the kids loved them and couldn't stop pretending to fill them up with gas! I guess because they have seen us do it so many times!

We were looking for something else to do in the village, once the kids had visited each of the tents, playing with Thomas train sets and getting 'Rosie' tattooed on their forearms. Yep, Toby had his choice of pictures but wanted a pink train like his sister!

On the train ride, we saw a handful of Model T Fords driving around and quickly realised we could go for a ride in one. Bam there was my Mothers' Day treat! I couldn't believe that we could go for a ride in a 99 year old car that normally, are only on display with a big 'do not touch' sign. I tried to take some pics but there wasn't much room to move and not much to photograph inside. There were no instruments, speedos or dials. No slick dashboard and apparently we were lucky to have a windscreen and front door!
It was so cool and I loved listening to the engine and watching how the driver changed gear and accelerated in such an old fashioned vehicle.

Unfortunately we ran out of time to visit the main museum but I hear the Rosa Parks bus is there (Charlotte was really disappointed to have missed it) and the car Kennedy was shot in, so I am sure we will be back again to see the rest of the exhibits!


There were beautiful chandeliers in the corridors of the museum 
(I have a thing about photographing chandeliers from underneath)
Toby and his choice of (pink) pedal car.
The main event - the train ride with Thomas! 


My favourite part of the day - the ride in the Model T Ford 
- so shiny the doors reflected the grass perfectly.
Charlotte 'getting gas'.

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