Helicopters, Firetrucks, Automobiles, & What we've been up to lately 5/2/10

I can't believe that these last few days have come and gone (all four of them that have flown by since I last posted). They've been fun. It makes me sad to see them go...especially since Jim will be leaving tomorrow for three weeks. He'll be teaching at Maxwell AFB...but his students won't be the kind here at U of A. They'll be other USAF Captains who are about to start doing the job that he's been doing for almost four years now.

I also had to say "Goodbye" to my mom yesterday. She came to visit on Friday and stayed overnight (This helps explain how I spent my Thursday evening. I was cleaning - making my house livable and un-embarassing - before she got here Friday afternoon.).

I went to work Friday morning and then to have my eyes checked (It had been three years, so I was definitely due). I came home to my mom waiting for me on our back porch...Jim and Jake were not far behind me. We all had dinner together - Jim's BBQ that my mom had picked up on the way here. It was absolutely delicious!

After dinner, Jim and I went out, just the two of us. We ran a gazillion errands, one of which was a stop at Movie Gallery to rent some movies. My mom and I managed to watch two over the next 24 hours.

On Saturday morning, we grocery shopped and took Jake to Big Trucks, Little Hands. It was an event put on by the Junior League of Tuscaloosa to help raise money for charity with the idea of giving kids a hands-on experience with all kinds of vehicles that they're fascinated by. They had a helicopter, tractor, dump truck, ambulance, two firetrucks, bulldozer, police car, and that doesn't even name them all. It was like a transportation candy store for Jake.

He got to meet a helicopter pilot...

and push every button possible inside a firetruck. This was definitely a hit. He especially liked the huge ladder they had raised up on top.

And even though these pictures don't say so, he also blew the horn of a big rig (more times than the crowd appreciated, I'm sure) and shook hands with a raccoon.

He ate suckers and chocolate and jumped inside an inflatable slide.

It was a windy day...but he kept saying, "I wike wind, Mommy." He also liked watching the bags of garbage be lifted from the ground by a crane.

And after all the playing was exploring was done and we were as windblown as we could possibly, we went home and had a relaxing afternoon...

which is exactly what we've done today. We went to church this morning, stopped at Bojangles for a late breakfast, came home, played a while, and then took naps. Since then we've watched it rain and realized we have no idea where our small group is meeting tonight.

So I guess we'll go to Target.