Where can I find a money tree?!

There are a lot of things in life that I don't really understand and I can accept that. But there is one thing in particular that just blows my mind....the price of stuff! And it is just that....STUFF! If you are a parent then you definitely know where I'm coming from. There is so much stuff that babies/kids need throughout their life, whether it be the necessities like diapers, clothes, shoes or the other stuff that they need want, like all of those cool toys.

This weekend we treated Keegan to his own special day full of fun. One place in particular that we went to was Toys 'R Us. We knew that he would love to walk around looking at and playing with all of the toys but our main goal was to get some ideas of what he likes so we could get some idea of what to get him for his birthday {and so Santa could get some ideas for Christmas}. Now I know that toys aren't cheap {especially at the above mentioned store} but it seems like the older Keegan gets the more expensive toys get! UGH....I just don't understand why things have to be priced so high!

For example....Keegan is obsessed with Thomas {you know that blue train with lots of friends}. Well Thomas is a pretty popular guy, therefore he is not cheap! One train will set you back about $12-$15 {for the motorized ones}.

Yep....there he is a $15 battery operated Thomas. And you can't have just one train, you have to have multiple trains. And what else do the trains need? Tracks of course...what kind of train can go without tracks silly? And can you believe that these tracks have to be bought separately from the trains? The trains also need some cargo cars to pull around...yep those are extra also! I don't even want to know how much money we have laying around the house in trains, tracks and cargo cars alone!

At the toy store, there is a whole section dedicated to Thomas. They even have a train table set up with trains on it for the kids to play with. Keegan loved it...good gift idea right? HA...it was $199!! He can keep crawling around of the floor playing with his trains! I'm not about to spend $199 on a piece of wood {if it was even real wood} that looks like something I could make!

Well...I found out yesterday that Thomas is in the area! I was so excited {for Keegan of course} when I found this out. He would absolutely LOVE to be able to see Thomas up close & in real life. I did some searching and got all of the information about "A Day Out With Thomas". Not only is Thomas there, but you can take a ride on Thomas {yep...a real train ride on the real Thomas} and they have all sorts of different activities for the kids to do. This is perfect! I find the day and time that I was interested in and clicked on the "find tickets now" button.

I get redirected to the page where I select the number of tickets that I want and there it is....the price of the tickets: $19.50. I'm pretty sure my jaw fell to the floor and I had my "you have got to be getting me" look on my face! {that's definitely what was running through my head} I couldn't believe that they charge $19.50 to take a ride on Thomas, it's not like it goes very far, it is only a 30 minute ride. That would mean it would cost my little family of three $60 to spend a day with Thomas. As if spending $19.50 per ticket wasn't enough, they charge you an extra $10.95 for a service charge? What the?!?! I seriously contemplated not buying the tickets after I saw that. 

Well....I sucked it up and bought the tickets. I know how much it would mean to Keegan to be able to see Thomas and I can't wait to see his face light up when he sees him for the first time. The money spent will be forgotten when I see his big blue eyes light up {hopefully with happiness and not tears of horror} and that smile on his face.

Yes....I know they price things like that because people still pay the money {like me for example} but it still irritates me to no end.

Thanks for listening to me vent...I'm done for the day!