Last year on St. Patrick’s Day our whole family was in the middle of a Spring Break vacation. We spent nine days exploring all the sights in Washington DC, with a brief stopover in New York City. Jeff and I were able to sneak a date night in during the trip and it happened to fall on St. Patrick’s Day. We donned our green attire (even a green feather boa for me!) and had dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill, a restaurant rich in political history. Afterwards we headed across the street and made history of our own trying to find the front of the White House so I could get a picture. It probably wouldn’t have been as difficult of a feat had we not been just a tad impaired. Luckily our sprinting from here to there didn’t break any national security laws and the secret service left us alone. We eventually found what we were looking for and I snapped a few quick pics before we boarded the Metro to head back for the night.
Oh what a difference a year makes.
St. Patty’s 09 found us on an an entirely different kind of date night: a date with two little ones in tow. A couple of weeks ago the Broadway version of Grease was in town and Jeff and I took the two older girls on a “date” to lunch and the show. We had to make it up to the younger two somehow, and that’s exactly what we did last night.
I donned my green feather boa again (c’mon I can only get away with it once a year!) and we headed out to dinner at our favorite family Mexican restaurant where Jeff enjoyed corned beef flautas and a couple of beers. Not green beer, but beggars can’t be choosers. My margaritas had a green tint to them though. That counts right?
After dinner we headed over to the convention center where Thomas and Friends had pulled into town. Thanks to an opportunity presented by MomSelect we were given four tickets to the show. And wouldn’t you know that just happened to be the perfect number?
We tried to keep the Thomas part a surprise but it wasn’t easy seeing as how every child in the vicinity (except ours) was dressed in striped overalls and conductor hats with the Thomas logo splayed all over them. And then of course there were all those mothers using Thomas as leverage to bribe good behavior. It was a tough secret to keep let’s just say.
The jig was up once we walked into the arena and saw the stage set up. We didn’t have to wait long for the production to begin. Jayce was, quite literally, on the edge of his seat as the first scene came to life. And when Thomas puffed his way to center stage Jayce went stick straight, raising up to get a better view. It was so funny to hear the gasps in the audience. Thomas got a reaction from that tot crowd like the American Idols get on stage every Tuesday night.
The whole family got into the action, moving our arms like chugga-chugga locomotives and pulling an imaginary chain for the toot-toot of Thomas’ whistle.
Yeah. What a difference a year makes.
It’s tough to say which of the engines Jayce prefers: Thomas or Percy. Luckily he got to see both of them on stage, as well as James, Gordon, Harold, and Sir Topham Hat. The show lasted about an hour and a half, which was maybe just a touch long. There were quite a few musical numbers and lots of dancing and audience participation that helped to keep the short attention span of the audience members.
All in all both of our most recent dates with kids have been quite successful. Not that I would turn down another trip to Washington DC or NYC for a “real” date night. Sans the green feather boa this time. :)
Thomas and friends live on stage is touring now. Click here for scheduling and ticket information if you’d like to take your little ones for a date night of your own.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, I forgot margaritas can be green. Mental note for next year.
I like Puffy Percy personally (say that 5x fast) and could do without Sir Topham Hat (kind of intimidating). It’s fun to see their reactions when they see their favorite cartoons in real life.
I want to see the version of Grease on Broadway…who knows if it will still be there when I go in July…
How fun for the kids though…my kids don’t watch Thomas the Train…so they have NO idea the coolness of it…
And why isn’t there a picture of this Green Boa?
I agree with Shelle; I was expecting a photo of the green boa!
Glad you all had a good time. Sounds like fun!
Beautiful picture of the white house by the way.
I had no idea Thomas and his train friends toured. I’ll have to look up the cities. My boys would lurve that. =)
Did you hear back from the Labels contest you entered? I looked back in your posts but didn’t see anything.
Sorry to take up 3 comments. I was thrilled to find out Thomas and his friends will be in my city on July 28th. So, thanks for sharing. =)
I’m sure Cassy and Jayce had a blast! I can just picture them now! :]
How lucky your kids are to have parents who take them on dates!
So tell me, did the green boa originally come with a pair of clear plastic light-up shoes and a pole? Just wonderin’.
Thanks for the great (and really useful!) blogpost — be sure to check out Thomas & Friends Live! On Stage on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thomas-Friends-Live-On-Stage-A-Circus-Comes-To-Town/53898818566
and on Twitter: @TFLOS
See you down the tracks!
Man, you have the some of the best looking kids don’t you? The eyes on that boy…goodness!
Sounds like your date was a success. There will be plenty of years for DC and NYC, but only a few short ones for Thomas!
Girl! Your baby is such a cutie!! :-) Sounds like fun, nothing can be wrong when you’re eating Mexican! I hope you had some cheese dip for me!
Cute cute boy!!! I use to live in DC and I soooo miss it. Soooo sooo miss it.
Both dates sound fun, but the feather boa definitely makes the story for me. ;) Have a great weekend!
I have to be honest here and say that altho I have five boys, I am relieved that none of them got into the Thomas the Train thing. Those talking trains just creep me out. Same with whatever that one is with the airplanes. Just seems sortof Frankenstein-ish to me. Or maybe Tin Woodsman. Now, give me a Wiggles live show, and I am all over that!
And corned beef flautas? “Interesting song choice, dawg.”
I, too, am weirdly fascinated with your green feather boa…
Just LOOK at those baby blues! What a cutie you got there. And I’m LOL about you trying to find the front of the White House while you were, um, under the influence? It is a rather large building, isn’t it!?
We got the tix to see the Thomas show too:) It’s in a few weeks. An hour and half though? That does sound like we might be pushing it a bit…
I’m just now getting a chance to catch up on your blog…great post!
Max went to see Thomas right after we moved here. We also went to Strassburg, PA to ride the Thomas train when I was pregnant with Cate…he is almost 5 1/2 and when I asked him recently if we could pack up his trains (over 50 of them) and his table to save for his cousin, “Thomas”, he quickly said, “NO WAY, MOM!!!!!”