Bright Eyes turned 10 in August but elected to forgo a party in favour of this: the Day Out With Thomas event, held an hour up the road. 

Even though he had to wait and wait to finally get his treat, he was remarkably patient. The greatest drawcard of the day, besides jumping castles and various bits of entertainment was an actual ride behind Thomas the Tank Engine.  Plus, he got to invite his train-crazy cousin along too.

And we had a pretty good day, even despite being disappointed that Thomas didn't pull the train in the end. A diesel took over, due to the total fire ban in the area.

But later that night, when I'd been called a worm and sent to Pluto in his standard nightly meltdown, I wondered if it was all worthwhile. Should I have bothered to go? Was the extra tiredness and stimulation worth it?

I was walking past his door at bedtime when he called out. 

"Mum." 

"Yes mate?" 

"Today was a great day. The best part was pulling the Thomas whistle to make it hoot, the second best part was the mini-ride, and the third best was the actual ride.  It wasn't what I expected, but it was still good."