Daily car trips

Raina is such a delight to have in the car. Back when she was a baby, she was eternally boring, and she was eternally bored. She had to face the back seat -- just a sea of grey cloth -- and wait until she was removed from her baby prison. When she finally upgraded to a big girl seat, a forward-facing carseat, she wanted to take endless trips. Being in the car was a joy for her because there was SO MUCH TO SEE!!! Two years later she still has that mentality.

Raina LOVES construction machinery, and delights in finding backhoes, bulldozers, cranes, and forklifts when out and about. With the Highway 40 construction / shutdown, we've had ample opportunity to find machines and she has a ball each and every time.

Also, at some point over in the fall, Raina learned about steeples, and she has a grand time shouting "Steeple! On the right!" as we drive along. We've gone to church the past two weeks, which means we drive past a lot more churches and steeples, AND the church we go to is just one big steeple. Going to church is totally worth it for Raina because she sees the big steeple.

Finally, Raina is learning the rules of the road. She knows that stop signs mean stop, and also the meanings of red, green, and yellow lights, and why cars have blinkers, and even why different lanes have different lights on them. She also helpfully prompts from the backseat "Green light, Mommy. Time to go!" or "RED LIGHT!!! STOP!" Yesterday we were in a left-turn lane but the light was green. She kept repeating "Green light, Daddy. Go, Daddy. We have the green light, Daddy!" And when we arrived at our location she started a new mantra "Parking spot, Daddy. Need a parking spot." Coupled with Samantha and Krystal's offering "helpful" driving advice almost caused Eric's mental undoing. Thankfully we got out of the car just in time.