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.

Cleveland rocks- Juner.

On Wednesday, we packed up and headed to Cleveland. Mama spent the night in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, so Uncle Kevin packed 5 kids in the mini van (The definition of "Mini van- Mega fun.") and we drove to Toledo to meet her.

In Cleveland, we were glad to see that GG had pulled out all of her fun toys. I got busy helping Henry park cars.

I must have been doing something right, because Henry and I both touched the same toy for minutes and he didn't try to pound me.

Needless to say, I was very pleased to be playing with big boy toys.

I spent a good deal of time watching out GG and GG's big window.

Luckily, there were plenty of people coming and going. We were practically the spectacle of the neighborhood because there were so many cars.

Thanks Grams Cracker for my new dress. Mama loves it.

Once we settled in, the real spectacle started. Sugar Fest 2009. When I started whining and mama started preparing my supper, GG was quick to pull out a peep to tide me over. Sugar covered sugar. I love my GG. Other great event at Sugar Fest included the night mama and papa went out to eat with their friends and Henry and I feasted on the following : peanut butter on cinnamon raisin bread, pudding, oatmeal creme pies, and reese's peanut butter cups. A supper of champions. Of course, mama said not to get used to it and had us back on a diet of vegetables today. I have a cold, so that means I'm throwing up (of course). But it's really just a reaction to all the nourishing food after a long week of junk.

On Friday, we visited Aunt Girl and got to see Kent State University. It was really nice, but we forgot to take our camera to document the one time that Girl's room has been clean. After our tour, we went the greatest restaurant ever. It was called Mike's Place and everyone whould make a special trip to Kent just to visit it.

I got to drive this bus then walk to the back and eat at a table inside of it! The rest of the place was covered in stuff. Mama was pleased to find an Abita beer sign hanging on the wall.

Papa headed to the wing of the restaurant that looked like a castle and took his place on the throne.

Juner stayed on the bus and caused trouble. When the food came, mama overwhelmed by the fish fry she ordered. She got about 2 pounds of fish and 3 pounds of chips. Plus hush puppies and applesauce. All for $8. What a bargain. We would gain about 200 pounds instantly if we lived closer.

Outside we posed in front of the X-wing. Did we mention how much we loved this place?

Back in the Cleve, Grams took me on a tour of GG's back yard. Here we are sharing a private joke.

And a big kiss.

Then they tried to put funny St. Patrick's theme headgear on me.

Even though I looked good, it didn't stay on for long.

On Saturday, my cousin Sadie came to visit with her parents. All the girls went to the mall and Aunt Molly bought me these awesome shoes for my birthday. I'm pretty sure I'll be walking in no time because they are so great!

Then everyone screamed at the top of their lungs to try to get us to sit still for a picture.

Henry was rewarded for a good supper with some cookies (what else?) and was very eager to share it with everyone. He gave Sadie and I both bites. What a nice brother. Sadie was more interested in the cookie, but I spent most of my efforts crawling between bowls of ice cream begging for bites. By this time, mama wasn't even trying to limit the sugar intake. She was riding high on her two visits to separate Trader Joe's and was busy hugging her radish seeds, gluten free pancake mix, and case of Two Buck Chuck.

We had a great time on our Ohio visit and wish it didn't have to end. Thanks to everybody that came to visit us, including many old friends that mama and papa haven't seen since before we became a family with kids.