Playing Cars, For Real

My son is obsessed with anything with wheels. Thomas, Lightning McQueen, the backhoe from "I'm Dirty" and the garbage truck in "I Stink" (books by Kate and Jim McMullen), and any other thing that rolls, honks, or beeps. He even goes to bed each night with a garbage truck named Garbee. When he wakes up he carries it around all day wrapped in a baby blanket. He even feeds Garbee with a baby bottle.

I decided to feed off this obsession and take my kids to an overpass. Not far from us there is a big giant overpass over the freeway that connects the light rail station one one side to a parking lot on the other. Not only did we get to watch cars, trucks, buses, and even the occasional boat on a trailer, but we also go to watch the light rail trains come and go. I kind of expected this outing to last maybe twenty minute or so (I mean, how long can you watch cars go by really) but we ended up staying about an hour. I'm glad a brought a snack along!

Walk About

What started out as a trip to the park turned into a walk around the neighborhood, which ended up being way more fun. It all started when we were getting out of the car to go to the park and my daughter looked down the street and said, "Mom, can we go on that bridge?" I thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Sure!". She was as pleased as punch. Off we went. Once we got to the top of the over pass, the kids got a thrill from seeing the cars drive under their feet. I'll have to admit, it's been a while since I've been up on one of these things and I kind of got a thrill as well.

After we went on the bridge, we saw a high school football team out practicing. After several shouts of "Football! Football! Football!" from my son, we headed over to go watch. We walked around a little more and not only watch the football practice, but also cheerleading practice, soccer practice, and across the street, baseball practice. For an 18-month-old who is obsessed with balls, it was a very successful afternoon!

Date Night

With a husband who is getting a Master Degree while working full time, we don't always get our date nights. I do, however, often get to go out on dates with these two handsome kids (who look so much like their dad that it almost counts as a date). 

For our last 'date night' we went out for ice cream at Menchies. It was so fun. There was a kids' corner with a little table and chairs, a chalk board, coloring pages and crayons, and all sorts of different board games. We stayed for almost an hour eating, drawing, and playing. 

 Our version of 'Guess Who' was to open all the doors, then shut all the doors, then open all the doors, then shut all the doors, then open all the doors.......you get the idea.

Our version of 'Connect 4' was also pretty modified. If I were to market this game the box would say, 'See How Fast You Can Put in All the Chips'

After ice cream, we found a fun fountain to watch a short walk away. I thought this picture was too cute not to share.

 And the evening was finished off in the best way possible, a footprint competition, seeing who could make the most footprints before they all disappeared. I think the boy won.