All Fun and Games Until the Second Lap

The Easter egg hunt we participated in in Ohio (see previous post) came with a "free" ride on one of their historical trains, but the line was extremely long at the conclusion of the egg hunt. Rather than wait in line, we decided to return later in the day after lunch and naps to take advantage of the ride. Unfortunately, Grant was in trouble at the time we were ready to go back into Findlay, so he wasn't able to join in the fun. Ben, Julie, and I took Alex and Jonah back for the adventure.

Jonah has been extremely interested in trains for some time: he hears the whistles in the distance here and always points them out; Freight Train and Terrific Trains were some of his favorite books last fall; and he loves playing with his wooden train set, which last largely taken over our living room. We were looking forward to the opportunity to ride the train with him and were excited because the "museum" had out their quarter-scale steam engine, which we had never seen in past visits.

A view of the steam engine as we rounded the first bend.

Getting ready to add additional coal to the engine.

Jonah was more than excited to get into the train at the outset of the ride,

but once we passed the starting point for a second loop around the track, he totally broke down and wanted nothing more to do with the train:

Get me outta here!

We have no idea what happened. The train did blow its whistle shortly before he broke down, but he had previously heard the whistle at the beginning of the ride and didn't react negatively at that point. Perhaps he was just expecting one loop and was afraid we would never be able to get off. Who knows...

Unfortunately, he was unwilling to cooperate for photo opportunities inside the building as well:

This just reminds me of the one outside!

The best image we could capture of the two boys together...

All was not lost, however, as Jonah thoroughly enjoyed watching the model trains they had set up and running indoors. They also had some track and cars that Alex and Jonah played with a bit.

Looking at the model railroad.

 

Alex points out features of the model on the opposite side of the room.

Concentration!

I'm betting we'll go back on future visits to Ohio. Hopefully Grant will be able to join us for the fun times too!