Dreams DO Come True

Last week when Parker, the Irishman and his mother went to Dillsboro, they were surprised by the arrival of the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad Train.



As you know, Parker is obsessed with trains. He plays with them when he's awake and talks about them in his sleep. This, my dears, was like having his dreams come to life.



When the engineer saw his fascination and excitement, he welcomed the Irishman and Parker on board.



And then things got seriously cool. Parker got to go inside of the engine car.



Look at this little munchkin holding the brake. Seriously, there is nothing more thrilling in his world and the look on his face is just priceless.



To cap off the experience, the engineer let him blow the "5 minute warning" whistle and the Irishman said that he was literally beside himself with excitement. As I walked in the door later that afternoon, Parker told me all about it and I thought to myself, there's a seriously good chance that pulling the train whistle might very well be his first concrete memory when he grows up. That would be pretty dang cool.