Thomas, Hudson and day of cringing

As you all know, Hud is a Thomas junkie. Addict. Hard core. So, of course we had to take him to see the real life Thomas that rolled into town. We decided to not tell him, only for our own sanity. I couldn't deal with him asking me 100 x a day if it was the day. We packed up this morning and headed out. The boys knew it was a surprise, but no clue what we were doing. We were near the airport, so God love 'em, they thought we were going somewhere. Yeah, sorry guys, nothing that cool. We pull up and there was Thomas, sitting at the little depot. Oh, the look on Hud's face. It was priceless. The kind of look parents dream of seeing on Christmas morning! We finally find a parking spot, 3 miles away, but were greatful for shuttle service. We load up and sit down. And wait. And wait. Shuttle doesn't move. I realize the driver is waiting on the family of 8, standing by the bus, smoking!!! I'm thinking, please, please just shut the doors and drive! No dice. They load up, smelling like a nasty bar ashtray to give us all 3 minutes of nasal assault. P.U. We arrive at our destination and it is an all out Thomas carnival! Train sets, live music, bounce houses, meats on a stick..... Really cute. Then, the cuteness wore off. I realize I'm in a 1 acre area with about 4000 people. 4000 people that have screaming kids. Sick kids. Kids that don't know how to funcion in public. Yes, I'm in hell. The train ride was so lame. 12 minutes going backwards on a track through woods and the ghetto. Then 12 minutes going back the same way. Nothing like waving at the poor kids in the government apartments with their faces smooshed on a chain fence watching the fun go by. I dubbed it, "Thomas the Train Poverty Tour '10". On the train, kids were coughing, sneezing, blowing their stupid train whistles while their parents were obviously too busy pulling their heads out of their butts to notice. More of the same after the ride. Germs, snot and tears at every turn. I finally called it a day and we headed back to the shuttle. I was beaten. Grossed out. Tired. The kids were coming down from their cotton candy sugar high. The kid seated next to us sounded like a sick goose, his cough was so bad. Then, I hear his dad say, "are you ok?" I'm thinking, no, he sounds like his lungs are about to fly out there, genius. Then he says, "if you need to throw up, let me know." Oh...my...God! Get me off this bus!!!! The things we do as parents. I'd do it all again, just to see that smile on Hud's face. And with that, I need to go bathe in bleach to disinfect myself.