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!

Going on an Egg Hunt

With Ben's crazy travel schedule the past couple of months (plus a business trip for me and a family vacation), we're a bit behind on posts. Hopefully we can catch up in the next week or so and then stay on top of things moving forward. However, given that Jonah's birthday is at the end of the month and we'll have preparations for that and tons of activities in association, I think I'd better just aim to get caught up by then!

The local neighborhood association sponsors and Egg Hunt for kids each year. We didn't bother taking Jonah last year, but were curious how he would respond to the activity this year.  The day was cold and it looked like it might rain, but we all bundled up and walked the 4 blocks or so over to the park.  They had an Easter Bunny there to entertain the kids while we waited, but Jonah clung to me in fear.

There wasn't much "hunting" at this location: the eggs were simply all over the ground in a roped off section of the park (a few were placed a bit strategically behind legs of tables and up on columns, etc.). Fortunately, they allowed the kids to enter by age range, so Jonah was in the first group to gain entry.  He was raring to go and could hardly wait to get at the eggs!

He didn't seem to have any problem grasping the point of the activity, though it was really interesting to see how kids that age go about picking up eggs. He walked right past some eggs to get to others that caught his eye for some unknown reason.
 

To keep things fair, they limited the number of eggs each child could pick up to ten, and we were able to meet the quota before the next age group gained entry.  Jonah wasn't terribly happy about being pulled from the hunt before he was finished participating, but he showed off a couple of his finds for Daddy:

We opened the eggs to keep the candy - pretty much all Starburst in his eggs, not exactly ideal for his age - and turned them back in for use again next year. I'm sure we'll come back for this activity again!

Fast forward a week to an egg hunt in Findlay, Ohio sponsored by Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation, Inc. Jonah still didn't like the Easter Bunny:

but he was raring to go at the start of the hunt (a hunt in an open field where kids of all ages have access at the same time and can gather as many eggs as they want/can. The eggs are empty, however, and are turned in at the end for a standard gift bag):

In general, his search strategy was the same as before, walking (and tripping) over eggs right in front of him to get to others that caught his eye, but this time he was more particular about the color of the eggs he picked up.

Ignoring all of these eggs at my feet to find that perfect other one!

However, after a short period (around a dozen or fifteen eggs), he had had enough and wanted nothing more to do with the egg hunt. I love the long pouty face he puts on when he is sad or upset:

By the time we left, he was in a much better mood, chilling on Uncle Dave's shoulders: