The Greatest Hobby- Henry.

By luck or by fate, we were in Cleveland the same weekend of the big model train show.

On Saturday morning, mama, papa, PawPaw, and Mister Anthony loaded me up in the van for the best days of my life.

As Grams Cracker would say, it was worth the price of admission. This show, while a showcase for extreme model train enthusiasts, was also accessible for kids and had tons of great exhibits at a low level for kids to see. (Others we've been to just had the displays on very tall tables, which required a lot of lifting.)

And when there was lifting to be done, PawPaw stepped up.

Mama was very impressed with all the kids. Not once did she see a train tip over or a town get trampled by someone in the 5 and under group. (Although June tried her hardest when we went back on Sunday.) But mostly, trains are so intoxicating to a three year old boy that they don't even have the ability to move willingly when faced with such a convention center full of delight.

One of our favorite exhibits was the Lego train set. It had the Miracle on the Hudson depicted fully in Legos.

And I think this was supposed to be New Orleans.

We were all impressed by the attention to detail in the exhibits. This one had an orange tractor just like my GG Cooper.

Mama liked to see what the people were doing. She liked the schlumpy guy in the red tie best.

Unfortunately, even the greatest hobby can't escape graffiti.

One of the main attractions on the TV commercial was the opportunity to ride a real Thomas the Tank Engine train. They really kept things moving with quick loading and only one trip around the track. Luckily papa was observant, because when mama saw the line, she was ready to write the whole thing off.

Here I am with my best friend Thomas. He's shorter than I imagined.

Thanks for taking me to the great show Pawps.

Many of the exhibits had buttons for kids to push that either made sounds or operated features of the exhibit.

I liked these tiny "polka dot" trains."

There was also a whole corner devoted to miles of Thomas track, if you were lucky enough to find a train to drive on it.

All in all it was the best show I've ever been to. Mama and Mister Anthony scored me a ton of train magazines. (Tonight I went to bed with the Lionel catalog and fell asleep dreaming of awesome trains and accessories.

We visited the show again on Sunday (hooray for two-day tickets!). Mama couldn't resist getting me a souvenir, so I came home the proud owner of a garage for my wooden train set. What could be better?

I had so much fun in Ohio. It was fun having a ton of playmates all week. I want to send a special thanks out to Uncle Michael. Mama was mortified when I, upon giving my good night hug, asked him to come back, and please bring me some cars too. Lucky for me, Uncle Michael is the best and came back with a whole set of construction matchbox cars. Thanks Uncle Mike! I promise not to ask for any more cars until I'm 16.