We went to a ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ party today to celebrate Anson’s 5th birthday in his home. Anson is truly a Thomas fan with a huge assortment of Thomas toys/games/videos including a ridearound train that Wesley grew rather fond of. Our kids became lost in this candy store of “Thomas” paraphenalia … so much so that the thought of food (a.k.a. lunch) never even crossed their mind. Even the selection of tempting egg rolls, pizza, and other goodies I dangled in front of their eyes did not deter them one bit. Wesley enjoyed the jumphouse outdoors. Nicholas enjoyed perousing the snack bar between activities, and they both liked the Thomas magician/face painter/balloon artist and pinata. Today, it’s just me with the boys (Alex is traveling on business to Israel).

Kids’ Raffle

The cutest thing happened at the end of the party when they raffled off all the prizes on display. Anson picked out numbers from a hat, and whoever’s raffle ticket matched that number got to choose a prize from that prize pile to take home. There were well over 25 kids there with a minimum of that many toys to choose from, and Wesley’s number was one of the first to be picked. Everyone wow’d since he gets first pick from the large assortment of games and toys (and here I was hoping he’d get the candyland game or even one of the fisher-price toys), but low and behold…. Wesley emerges quickly from within the crowd of onlookers with a little soccer ball clutched tightly in his arm. Then a short while later, when it was Nicholas’ turn… he also chooses quickly without hesitation, a box of candy canes… to hang on the Christmas tree he says… . That’s the innocence of being a child (I thought)…. their choices are always made from the heart.