Of course, our boys are no strangers to firetrucks, having visited our downtown station at least half a dozen times this summer. It's only a block away from the farmer's market, and they always demand to "check to see if the doors are open." If so, they just walk right in and make themselves at home. Luckily, the firefighters don't seem to mind. I suppose this was a change of pace since it was a Coralville truck instead of Iowa City.Police cars are a bit more elusive, though they have been in one since a woman in our neighborhood is an Iowa City Police Sergeant and sometimes stops home for dinner while we're out taking walks. When we first walked up to this car the front seat was full of kids, so Ed hopped in the back and made his best "criminal" face.
Then they got a turn up front.
Another big hit was the snowplow. I can't believe how soon these guys will be trolling the streets again. But for today, the boys were intrigued to be able to stand right next to it to see how big it really is. They also got in and took turns driving and honking the horn. The garbage and recycling trucks were also popular attractions. They liked that they could each take a steering wheel--one on the left in a seat and one on the right side standing up.
This backhoe and road roller were a bit too close to the cement mixer, which had an air horn--a very popular feature, but still too loud for our boys. Daniel wouldn't even climb up to sit in the mixer after a kid pulled the horn while he was waiting for a turn. Ed climbed up, but stuck to the steering wheel horn. You can see him covering his ears in the photo below.
Another kid climbed into the seat next to Daniel in the Gator before Edward could make his move, so he settled for this riding lawn mower and was quite pleased to be able to move the levers. I don't think he understood that this offers the same function as a steering wheel, but no matter. John said that Daniel attempted perhaps the first-ever "lawnmower-jacking" when he tried to climb in with Edward. A quick lever pull would have sent Daniel tumbling down if Grandpa had not been there to catch him.
As was the case last year, the toys were as much fun as the real trucks. We almost couldn't get Daniel out of these cars (there were eight or ten and he had to try them all.)
However, we eventually drew him away to the "Dig It!" part of the event--a huge pile of sand.
Then it was on to lunch--better prepared this year with PB&J in a lunch cooler. The adults were wishing it was a full picnic, but we were equally glad not to have to stand in the long line to buy the food on hand at the event. I am quite certain that despite Grandma's hand-wipes, the kids ingested a bit of dirt with their lunch. Oh well. We were then exactly in the right place at the right time for a "cooking with kids" demonstration--making "dirt cups" (a.k.a. chocolate pudding with chocolate graham cracker crumbs topped with a gummy worm.) Perfect end to our outing. Everyone was exhausted, but we managed to keep Daniel awake in the car by asking him to sing his favorite song--Muffin Man. That led to others, and 10 minutes later we were home. Gulps of water, quick showers, books and naptime. Oh, the peace!The other big event this weekend was the Iowa-Iowa State football game, which was in Iowa City this year with plenty of local excitement. Our family only saw part of one quarter, and the boys' favorite part was the Aflac duck walking across the bottom of the screen (they made John rewind three times and each time they giggled as if it were the first.) Our inattention notwithstanding, the Hawkeyes won, 35-7. We're there in spirit even if we don't have the attention span for the whole event.
Watch this space for additional updates as I attempt to catch up on the last two weeks. Next up, our report on a trip to the Grand Harbor Resort (water slide) in Dubuque.
