Year 2, Day 182: Yes, you can touch that truck!

Praise the Lord! The weather held off and we were able to enjoy the Touch A Truck event at a local school parking lot.  It was muggy, but not terribly hot and it was overcast.  Maybe 70-75 degrees.  It was $3 each for Justin and Keturah, free for Abishai and I.  Woot! Woot!  I was a bit disappointed because I thought there would be more trucks.  And there wasn't a very large crowd either.  The school that were at is in a fairly quiet area of the city, so maybe that's why.  But, we did get to touch some trucks we don't normally get up close and personal with.  And Abishai learned how to take turns and didn't throw a fit when it was time to move on.  Justin and Keturah did get a touch bored, but it wasn't an event directed at them anyway.  Meanwhile, Jared and Benaiah drove home from Kansas City today.  And Gary flew in this morning, ate a quick lunch and with his energizer bunny mentality, was off doing his day job activities like making videos within 2 hrs of his plane touching down, go figure.  It is fun having a family with such diverse personalities.  Fast and slow and in between, lol.

Then I worked on those 2013 taxes, spending 40 minutes on hold waiting for someone who told me the other guy I talked to last week was wrong and I just need to send in the info that proves we lived in Canada all of 2013.  Good grief.  Make up your minds people.  And I also worked on cleaning up my computer and phone because they are about to crash.  Books will have to wait until another day.  I would like to be "in the mood" to be critical and purge as I take out books anyway.  I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, right? Sigh.

Now it's thundering, which is good because we need some rain.  Naptime was nice and quiet and long, and then the guys got home.

Trash smasher!  Abishai loved this one and kept saying "trash!"

Yes, we eat a lot of popcorn.

Nice protective underwear, lol!

The palm size of a couple of Colts players.

We went into the Colts trailer first because they had given the kids melty ice cream bars and we didn't want to climb in and out of truck cabs with gross hands.  Good thing I had a thing of baby wipes with us!

Justin tried out corn hole and did it really well!

Um, we thought the school buses were part of the display, but actually, the kids were inside the school building because it is also a community center.  The bus driver was very kind and laughed it off, even letting another little girl on because she had come just for the buses.  Whoops!

It was right up Abishai's interest level because he watches Tayo the Little Bus all the time.  

He''s a natural bus rider!  Too cute!

This is what she would look like if she rode a bus to school.  I remember riding the bus when I was in public school.  It was ok.  Some slight bullying by the bigger kids, not at me though.  I always remembered the story we were told about the kid whose head got severely injured when he stuck it out the window and he got hit by a light or telephone pole.  I never stuck my limbs out the window because of that.

I had to take away the umbrella after this because I didn't want Justin using it as a weapon.  What a goof!

The driver on the bus says move on back, move on back,  move on back.  The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep! etc. etc.

Wee-oo's are Abishai's favorite and he got to put the lights on!  Fire trucks are ok, but police cars are his favorite because he likes to play them in the "Need for Speed" video game.

Never too old to enjoy sitting in a fire truck.

They were able to pick up a fire hose, and that nozzle is pretty heavy.

Wheeeee!

I, personally, have NEVER seen a person's hands and feet be so large!  Size 18 shoe!  I've seen 11-13 sizes before, but never 18's.  Oh my word!  I guess this guy is on the Pacers basketball team.

Justin cried out, "A Zamboni, a Zamboni!  I've always wanted to drive one!"  Ok, Canadian convert.

I just had to get our Canadian up on the Zamboni!  Cute!

That's a big hook! 

An even bigger hook!

Wup, wup, wup, wup.

Lots of levers!

One very clean cement truck, lol.

Blue tongue and she fits in the big tire of a dump truck.

Happy as a clam with all the vehicles he can "drive."

I think he has more growing to do.

This makes it the third time they've been to the "library" this week! This time, it was a mobile library!

Abishai wasn't happy that he couldn't actually get IN the Indy Car.

But you could sit on it and touch any of the exteriors.  This was this year's designs.  Actually, I noticed that the back tail(s?) wing(s?) or whatever they are called were designed differently than other years.

Beep, beep!

And this is how a toddler plays cornhole!  Take them all out and put them in the other side - no throwing involved, lol.

After naptime and suppertime, we waited for Daddy and Benaiah to get home.  It started pouring!  But, we watched as a bunny took shelter under a tree in our front yard.  Abishai kept alternating between "bunny hop" "vroom wash" "bunny wet" "rain," of which were correct.  It was fun watching the bunny just sit there.

See him there on the right side of the tree?  So cute!  And the dog wanted to meet him, too, of course.  I had to make sure the front glass door was shut securely all the way, otherwise, Socks would have charged out there after it.

Perfect cheese face!  Too bad I don't own any photography properly lighten up the left side.  But that's our Abishai.  Full of it!

Socks missed his biggest brother, who, I think, punched the sheep toy so hard he broke the squeaker.  Bad big brother.

Abishai was in predictable crazy mode screaming and running and trying to get everyone to play his games.  And we took turns chasing him.  He loves his people!

His favorite game is attack mode.

Indiana Pacers bam bams!

Daddy's turn to get hit by baby.

Yeah! Abishai wants to pull out all his books again!  I'm going to have to find a special spot and arrangement for his books.  He likes to read them to us as much as he wants us to read them to him.

Are you comfortable, boys? Can't imagine that they will take up even more space at some point.

Abishai almost didn't get in Daddy's lap to read because he "reads" to himself now.  But finally he did.  But Abishai points to many more things and tells us what they are, like Abishai's bike and Ice Cream's "vroom."

Baby and doggy waiting.

So adorable.

This was all Abishai's idea.  Socks just sat there and didn't move like the great people dog he is.  But then when Abishai walked away, he gently tried to get it off.

Earlier, Abishai was using Socks as a highway for his cars and again, Socks didn't move.  He's always been very tolerant of the little kids.

I think I see 3 boys in this picture, or at least parts of them anyway.  Boys are always moving, even the video gamers' move in their own ways.

Well, boys are home safe and sound.  The rain has stopped or now.  Benaiah has to get laundry done at Grandma's house in the next two days because he leaves at 7am for CIY on Monday morning, with Grandpa, who never.....stops...moving.

Oh, and my vacuum cleaner problem is solved!  I've just inherited my in laws vacuum cleaner! I was just going to borrow it, but they said, "Here, take it as a birthday present."  Sure!  It's heavy, but it will do the job well.  We burn through vacuums pretty quickly with all the dog hair, so we'll see how long I can make it last.  Anyway, you have no idea how stressful it is to live in an environment that is normally clean and it gets covered in dog hair filth hourly (yes, hourly) and you have no way to keep up with it.  It just makes me feel better when the floor has been vacuumed and most of the dog hair is gone.  Clutter mess I can deal with, but dirt, stinky clothes, and food dishes left out are a big no-no to me.  I grew up with clutter, and only parts of the house were truly clean like the kitchen.  I am determined to keep a cleaner (not perfect) house than my mother did.  She could have, but choose to homeschool us and drive us everywhere.  And then she wasn't physically able.  She did what she could, but I want to do one step better (again, not perfect, but one step better).  Sigh, thank you for the vacuum cleaner!