Drive By

Why does my child look like he is posing for some trendy toddler boutique from 1983?   I feel the runway music that accompanies this goes something like, "I'm...too cuddly for my trains, too cuddly for my trains, so cuddly it's insane."  Jack is precious, I know, but sneaking nighttime shots of his goofy hair and pudgy belly is not the real focus of this post.  The real focus is...drive bys.  

On the way to school, we drive by several exciting sites.  And you would think that doing this trip twice a day might get old to Jackman.  Perhaps the thrill is gone by Wednesday?  Not so.  It's gotten to the point where I could orchestrate each step of the drive to music.  This is how the drive goes.  As we pull out of our neighborhood, Jack immediately begins calling for the buses.  "Bus! whereareyou?"   They usually appear by the time we hit Ball Camp Elementary.  He tells me to stop at the stop light (that's him holding up his hand to stop the car - I think the boy thinks he's a Jedi or something) and then calls to the buses if they still haven't made an appearance yet.  Once he spots a bus, he squeals with delight and then tells them goodbye.

When the light turns green he pumps his fist and yells, "Go Go Go!"   He will then start calling for the next scheduled bus stop - at the Weigels parking lot by Pellissippi.  Once he sees that he begins to collect himself in preparation for the 3rd most exciting event - the cement mixers.

On Lovell Rd there is a cement/concrete plant of sorts and it usually has 4 cement mixers parked out front.  On good days the trucks will be under the hopper (?) filling up with concrete.  Once we have passed the soccer fields right before the plant, Jack begins to FREAK OUT.  It's intense.

Don't believe me..check out the video.

Then we say goodbye to the cement mixers and move on to the construction site for Costco.  The squeals for part 4 of our drive begin at the intersection for Turkey Creek Shopping Center - a full two blocks before the Costco.  Once we hit that, it's go time.  The construction site has diggers, dump trucks, and more.  Imagine the cement mixer video - amplified times 5.  It's that exciting.  And then a minute later we are at school! :)  He doesn't squeal for that but I think it's because he secretly wants to hang out with me all day.  I mean, I'm the one who takes him on an exciting drive every morning, right?

In the afternoon we get to do it all again.  Here is a video of him seeing a bus - his favorite vehicle on the road at the moment.  The only thing that can take the drive up to the next level is if we hear a train horn as we leave the house in the morning.  When that happens, you know it's going to be a good day :)