It’s Saturday and as I promised here is more regarding the Thomas madness that has swept our happy home.  It all started when Papa had the brilliant - - “brilliant” is Sister’s word of the week, BTW.  I’m not certain where she heard it because it’s not one we use a lot around here … not because we aren’t of course but because… oh, nevermind.  Anyway, she’s using it… correctly, I might add. - - soooo, Papa had this idea that Brother needed a train set.  I’ve known for a while that Brother likes trains but I dismissed the idea because I was planning a Bob the Builder birthday party and trains didn’t fit the theme.  (I seem to have this weird obsession with getting gifts that fit the party…. at least for my own children.)  But then we went to a school work day and all Brother could play with while we were there was trains… Thomas trains.  So the party theme changed (of course!) and I began researching Thomas and train tables and tracks etc.  I am almost embarrassed to admit how much I know about these little choo choo’s at this point.  I finally settled on a table & set from Imaginarium (ie Toys R Us).  It’s not the “true” Thomas set but it was twice as many pieces for 1/2 the price.  We filled in with a couple of actual Thomas pieces and that seems to be enough to appease our two year old train buff.  Sister & I spent the first part of Friday afternoon putting the table together and then Brother and Will mysteriously appeared when it was time to assemble the track.  Yes, we let Brother play with it before his party and I’m so glad we did.  He got a whole afternoon and evening to use it before he had to share.  Also, if we had waited until this morning to assemble it no one would have gotten to play.  Besides the time spent planning and purchasing, I have almost 6 hours invested in that track.  (Somewhere in there is a Parent Hack for the wise.  Assemble all major and most minor toys before giving them to small, impatient children.)  That was yesterday.  This morning Brother woke me up and insisted we go immediately to the “Rec Rum” to play with his “track, Mama, track train”.  I flipped on the coffee pot as we headed out the door with a  sliver of hope that I might get some Gano… sometime.   Brother quickly immersed himself in trains and I worked on completing the party preparations.  I was almost finished when Will came out and took Brother to Ollie’s for breakfast.  Ahh, coffee break.  The party started around 10:30 with cake, punch, presents and activities - all the standard party fare.   I am not listening to the snickers of all of you out there who claim I can’t throw a standard party.  I am not a perfectionist.  I am not a party freak.  I can throw a plain Jane, vanilla, run of the mill birthday party any time I want.  To date I have never wanted to… but I could.  This one was quite a bit less involved (and less expensive) than Sister’ Barbie Beach Party but fun nonetheless.   We had a Netflix Thomas video playing on the big screen (no sound) with train sound effects coming from the computer (courtesy of Itunes).  Red streamers and blue balloons along with a few toy trains and Thomas books from Brother’s collection completed the decorations.  A blue iced cake from Reasor’s with a random Happy Meal train on top, Engine Red punch and little Hawaiian bread ham and cheese sandwiches. (These are always a big hit.  Not very messy, so easy to make, and just the right size for little hands and tummies.) Besides the train table itself the highlight of the party was a play the children put on for the adults.  Sister & I had previously painted banana boxes with leftover spray paint and today we lined them up to form a train.  I read the story “Go, Train, Go” while the children acted out various parts.  Some simple props added to the fun.  The children liked the activity so much we gave an encore performance near the end.  It is quiet time now.  Everything is put away.  The guests are gone.  Sister has wisely chosen this time to play with the train set as Brother is inside with me watching the Aristocats.  I set him up with his blankie and a juice hoping he would drift off to sleep as he usually does.  No such luck… yet.