Touch a Truck

When James was 17 months old, we went to Fort Jackson’s National Night Out.  James was in heaven exploring all the trucks and emergency vehicles.  It literally was one of the best days of his life.  In December I heard the Junior League was putting on a “Touch a Truck” event… in just four short months.  So, I saved the date four months in advance.

I woke up this morning with the idea of inviting a friend, and Miss Callie was the lucky one!

She was all smiles and giggles, manners and patience.  A perfect lady.  But one that can always hang with the boys.

James, on the other hand.  Oh my sweet, not-so-go-with-the-flow, baby James was having an off day from the start.  He went to bed an hour late, which usually means he’ll wake up early.  Sure enough, he woke up screaming an hour early this morning.  A scheduled child is a blessing 90% of the time.

So, two hours of missed sleep, and just a grump.  Who knows, maybe it’s teething or something.  I’ve picked up a few parenting lessons the last couple of years.  1) Babies are people, just like adults.  Each and every child is different.  They have off days and bad moods, sometimes for no reason at all.  2) Even though we have off days, I try not to revolve the world around them.  Part of life is adjusting to your surroundings, and things can’t always be perfect. And 3) If there is something that I have really built up in my head, it usually doesn’t end up anywhere close to my expectations.  That is also life.  High expectations are hard to reach.

James had a meltdown when we picked Callie up so, we put on some tunes on the way to the event.  “No more monkeys jumping on the beds!” brought our spirits right up!

He had another meltdown as we were walking in the gates.  I have no idea why.  We headed straight for some trucks, and the fun began.

James got to drive, while Callie pushed buttons.

And then they shared.

Oh, the sharing thing.  We’re working on that.

James probably preferred to sit in each driver seat for an hour, but there were tons of kids and lines for everything.  We had to keep on the move.

We hopped in an ambulance.  Callie put her seatbelt on as soon as she got in each truck.  it was so cute and responsible.  Safety first.

James got stuck in the passenger seat.

Some trucks we visited together, and some times we split up.

James loves Police cars “eese cars.”

And then I flashed forward 15 years.

They had three bouncy houses!

With small slides and tall slides.

Lunchtime was approaching so, we hit up a few more spots.

Then, we carried James out of there kicking and screaming.  I had milk on ice for the kiddos waiting in the car.  We went to Groucho’s for lunch… they sure were hungry.  And they were both happy to eat.  We could hardly keep James awake on the way home.

  .Erin, thanks for letting your Callie come along… she was a breath of fresh air!