Totally Awesome Tuesday

Today being Tuesday, I had another opportunity to take my grandson Miles out to lunch at McDonalds....but while there I told him we were going to a special place after lunch.

It was a bit of a drive, but we headed over to EnterTrainment Junction at Tylersville Road and I-75, which boasts an enormous display of trains throughout history. Each display had numerous red buttons, which Miles enjoyed pushing, to operate a train or turn on sound to the display.

Once through the first labyrinth of trains (there were many), we arrived at the play area, where Miles got to serve as engineer (he was unanimously selected by the railroad officials) of a life-size and very realistic train:

There were some interactive train displays in the play area, which Miles took to immediately, and quickly mastered all relevant railroad (and helicopter) techniques:

And, of course, the toy train table garnered some attention:

But the bulk of the time we spent there (at least an hour of the 2+ hours), surprisingly, was not directly train-related. It was a large (and still being added to) climbing playground, which Miles was a tad too small to conquer on his own. But a couple girls (at least THREE OR FOUR YEARS his seniors) helped him up the big steps, and persuaded him to go down the long slide, which he did numerous times. He loved every minute of it, and I couldn't stop smiling and even laughing at his adorableness (it's a word). You can't really see him, but the photo below shows him entering the mouth of the slide for the third or fourth time.

However, all good things must come to an end. We had another appointment, so we threaded our way through the rest of the lengthy train displays and train museum and into the gift shop, where I bought him a couple trinkets. Then we headed to Kenwood, and met his father for pizza. On the way home, all that activity caught up to him, and while I managed to stay awake, he did not:

This boy, like his sister and cousin (like his father and aunt, my children), brings me soooooo much joy. On the way from McDonald's to EnterTrainment Junction, we just talked, and I watched him in the mirror, all the way laughing and smiling broadly....so much so that I'm sure anyone who passed me in traffic must have thought I was thoroughly addled. Which is true enough. But beside the point. I think.

Anyway, it was a lovely day with a lovely boy.