Cars and trucks and things that go

Driving through downtown Kirkland last week, I saw some signage indicating an upcoming car show. After our roaring success with one the boys and I stumbled across last year, I knew we had to try to be there. Friend B even volunteered to come along - it was slightly stress-reducing to have another set of adult eyes on the rambunctious boys. There was a wonderful variety of cars there from the 1920s up through the present (I was chuckling at one late 1970s wood paneled station wagon, which apparently now qualifies as a 'classic'?), in all different colors and varieties. The boys were of course comparing every car they saw to the Pixar ones, and were particularly pleased to see three different police cars, two of which were close in appearance and livery to Sarge. The third police car was a modern interceptor placed next to a 1930s period City of Kirkland police car with a poster board indicating the many differences in the size/population of the city, police force, capabilities of the vehicles, etc.

But by far the boys' favorite was the bright. red. fire truck. Up until this point I'd been reminding them that these cars were for "decoration" and that they should "look with their eyes" despite them lingering closer and closer (with some wary owners I think keeping a polishing cloth at the ready). But the fire truck specifically had a piece of paper on it indicating that it was fine for touching, climbing, and playing on. The boys were completely thrilled. When I was finally able to pry them away to see more of the actual vehicles, O kept asking if any of these cars also had "pieces of paper" (e.g. could he climb on/in them). We had to make a return trip before heading out, but what a great morning activity for the boys!

Bird is the Word

For once the title of this post isn't intended as some kind of pseudo-clever word play. Bird is the Word is Z's favorite song, and he both sings and requests it with some frequency. I made the mistake of hunting on YouTube and rediscovered the extended joke it made for on a Family Guy episode.

When the bird alone won't suffice, I often catch both boys singing Uncle B and my hit song from grandma and John's wedding. And yes, a video of the premiere performance has surfaced:

Family Portrait

Last month just before heading to Michigan, we had our long-awaited family portraits. It was a twice (perhaps three times?) rain-delayed affair that Meh had purchased excellently cute outfits for, hence the sweaters for a shoot taking place in June. And even on the day of, it was sprinkling as I headed home from work -- but somehow the sky cleared and we were able to have some fun at a clearly photo-friendly (kudos to Meh for picking it) local park featuring historic buildings and a number of rusting tractors that I think could give you tetanus just by looking at them. Still, the boys managed to stay clean enough and patient enough for these amazing pictures - huge thanks to Keri! We met her in a parent/baby group with Zachary, and since Z helped start up her portfolio, her business has simply continued taking off since (celebrity babies and all!). We'll give Z just a tiny slice of credit, but such fabulous and memorable results from Keri; more pictures here.

How dry I am

Meh's excellent anniversary present to me was to replace our aging (we couldn't remember, but it's wholly possible it came with the house) clothes dryer -- even grandma was excited to hear the news, having experienced its raw awesome non-drying power when she and J watched the boys a few months ago, and probably spent the entire week trying to dry the same load. The new dryer was delivered and installed yesterday, a space-age top-loading device from what is apparently the major appliance manufacturer of New Zealand. It's already run through two loads and (gasp) successfully dried clothing. Crazy, I know. I'm also a fan of the lint collector, a little scoop that you just pick up and shake in the garbage like a dustbuster - no scraping or pulling out debris. It's a fun device with a host of interesting sounds (not loud, but sounding like a little Cessna motor is spinning up) and a wonderful gift - it even fits the bill for the traditional ten year gift of something made of aluminum. (Again, where do they come up with these things?!) Thank you Meh!

Regional Airport

While our trip to Michigan wrapped up more than a week ago, Z's obsession with planes and airport vehicles has continued. It's pretty obvious what his birthday cake is going to be, and he frequently talks about how "we can definitely go to the airport another time" and how we'll similarly revisit the Museum of Flight. But why wait? He's taken the most unlikely of building blocks, his collection of Lincoln Logs, and turned them into a full-fledged airport on his own. Check out the luggage carts, the baggage loader, the plane tower, the terminal (I helped him with it just a bit), and of course the fabulous airplane!

The Ten Year Pitch

This morning, O and I got to have some daddy/son time while Meh was at work and Z was working with L. I let him choose where we went, and he recommended one of our favorite beach parks. An excellent idea, but I didn't anticipate O wanting to go all the way down to the beach -- and then into the water, "just like at grandma and John's house!" I rolled up his pants (yes, he wasn't even wearing shorts) as best I could, but that didn't do much when he decided the next step was to sit down in the lake. Ah well. On the plus side, a father and son came up to the lake with a remote controlled tug boat, and we had great fun watching them. Then they kicked it up a notch by attaching a barge behind the tug and putting a toy bulldozer in the barge. O's mind was sufficiently blown, and it was super amusing seeing Meh's disbelief when he later described the scene -- it took my pictures to prove his story true.

Today is Meh and my tenth anniversary! I can't believe it's already been ten years; while in some ways I feel like we've known each other forever, I look back at our wedding photos and sometimes think, oh, that was just yesterday. Even when O, Uncle B, Aunt J, and I were at the sandwich shack right across from our wedding venue a few weeks ago, it really didn't seem that long ago that the two of us were walking down the aisle, then dancing and celebrating with our friends and family all Sunday long. Celebrating our anniversary, I continued the silly tradition of making an overly elaborate book full of attempted (and probably mostly failed) jokes; the format for this year's valiant effort was "pilot" scripts (yes, in traditional format) for send-ups of a variety of TV shows we watch (Mehd Mehn, Game of Tones, True Caffeine Free Blood, etc.), bound up in a silly TV Guide format. It was enjoyed even if I clearly spent too much time on it. Mima watched the boys so we could celebrate with a lovely dinner (complements of John and grandma, celebrating their 10-day anniversary!) at a tasty local restaurant. A very happy anniversary to my soulmate, my best friend, my very pretty and cozy wife of ten years!

Here Comes the Bride

It's been an excellent week in Michigan as we celebrated grandma and John's wedding! The boys had a fabulous time, the weather was cooperative, and of course the ceremony itself was very special and we were so glad to be able to share in the festivities. The time went by very quickly, but it was a great opportunity to catch up with family and friends, visit some old and new favorite locations, and in general get some good quality family time.

No trip can begin without some playtime at the airport, and the boys didn't disappoint with wild running around and playing. As usual, this somehow didn't actually exhaust them, and the entire plane flight (thankfully direct) involved various kinds of entertaining the boys ("Want a present?" was Z's query literally as we sat down on the plane) with food, toys, boys, movies, stickers, and other distractions. We arrived and got to take an (always exciting for the boys) series of elevators, escalators, watch the luggage carousel, and then grab a bus to the rental car facility; the boys continued to be super pleased if a bit zonked from the flight. The rental car facility was making popcorn, so O and Z both accepted and munched on buttery bags of goodness while we marched out to choose our car. The boys selected a nice dark red Kia -- insert irony of them passing by an entire row of Big Three Detroit vehicles and opting for the sole import offered to them.

The next day was fairly quiet, featuring some fun times at the park with grandma and John, and then lunch at a local diner. I picked up Uncle B and Aunt J in the evening, and the rest of the family was incoming over the next 12 hours as well; it was so nice to get to see our small and spread out family (Seattle, SF, DC, NY, MI) all coming together for such a celebration.

Wednesday was our primary opportunity to both spend time with Uncle B and Aunt J and run some errands (for reasons that will become apparent later, Uncle B had to get to Ann Arbor to pick up a guitar). First we all visited my dad's burial site; I prepped the kids (and myself) as best I could, but it was still both sweet and a bit tear-jerking when O talked about "leaving a stone for grandpa to play with". We made a quick stop as well at the house Uncle B and I grew up in; while the main street's shops aren't even remotely recognizable anymore, the neighborhood itself was still looking pretty good, and the house itself is still the same color it was when we left. Onward to a family lunch/dinner at one of Ann Arbor's more famous restaurants! The boys weren't really interested in the tasty looking hot dog (Z) and grilled cheese (O) that we got for them, but when O heard there was ice cream... Needless to say, we couldn't leave without O getting the tiniest little dish of "swirl" (mixing their chocolate and vanilla gelato). Oh, and next to their separate coffee house/ice cream building, we discovered the cutest little play area, complete with (what else but) vehicles. The boys were well entertained for the remainder of our visit.

Before heading home from Ann Arbor, we had to make a stop to visit at least one of the famous fairy doors that Meh had discovered while researching our own acquisitions. And this one certainly didn't disappoint; it was in the hallway right outside of the shop, and for extra fun, behind the door you can see the various things that people have left for the fairies -- including an alarming number of mentos, Vernors ginger ale, and as O and Z were quick to point out, even a tiny Mater toy. Meh chose to leave a tiny book that she'd had forever, it was the perfect home for it to end up with the fairies. It didn't hurt that there was a toy store right across the hall. From one meal to another; we got home in time for a brief rest before heading onward to the out of town guests (e.g. family) dinner. O conked out in the car and proceeded to sleep (thank goodness we'd brought the stroller) through the entire meal. When we got back, I got to work making the wedding challahs, though the second batch had to wait until morning.

The wedding day arrived, and it was time to get the boys into cute outfits and pray that they could keep them stain-free at least through the photos. But honestly, the boys did amazingly well throughout the day. It was a beautiful morning and a fabulous venue; the boys were pleased to see golf carts whizzing by and patiently stood through pictures. My mom and John both looked so happy and I think they really enjoyed the entire day! We met the rabbi, who informed us (and then the gathered guests, and then at the reception mentioned again) that his grandsons are also Z and O. Soon it was time to walk down the aisle -- the boys did a great job sprinkling flowers, even if O eventually decided to just upend his bucket near the chuppah. Both boys ended up somehow under the first row of chairs during the ceremony, but stayed very cute and quiet during a lovely wedding. I had a front row seat -- well, standing position, helping to hold up the chuppah, and it was wonderful and sweet to see and share in the love and joy of the exchanging of vows and rings. At the reception, O was a dancing machine and Z really got into the act as well.

And speaking of acts, we might as well get to the guitar. Both B and I gave toasts (O came up to interrupt me halfway through: "Excuse me, daddy. I have to talk to you."), and then we'd cowritten (well, B wrote all of the lyrics and the melody; I mostly just contributed chords) a song about the two whose lives have changed the most besides the bride and groom: my mom's dog Gus and John's dog Winston. There was a chorus with a big cue card for everyone to join in on:

Lucky Dog (By Uncle B and Scoot (ASCAP))

Gus is a lucky dog
With yellow fur and a big brown nose
And his favorite thing in the world
Is to lick his paw just above his toes
And his second favorite thing
Is Missy Sue, he thinks she's his mom
And his next favorite things
Are his new best friends Winston and John

[CHORUS] Oh lucky dog, lucky dog, bow wow
Lucky dog, lucky dog, woof woof,
Lucky dog, lucky dog, bow wow,
Lucky dog, lucky dog, lucky dog.

Winston's a lucky dog
A springer spaniel with a great big heart
And he's lucky to be deaf
He can't hear you [pause] when you fart
And when Winston has to make
He just paces around, doesn't bark at the door
You gotta read his mind
Or you’re gonna be cleaning up the floor

[chorus]

Now Winston's got a new mom
And Gus has got a new dad
They're glad for what they have
And they remember [pause] what they had?

[chorus 2x + coda]

It was a wonderful celebration, and the raising of the bride and groom on chairs was only mildly penalized by 5'4" me trying to lift up grandma. Everyone had an amazing time. And then to punctuate the whole thing, we took the boys to their first fireworks in the evening. While it was loud enough that I had to hold my hands over O's ears for him to be happy, everyone had a great time watching them launched over a local lake. Z was so excited he had to compare it declaratively to his other favorite activity: "We're going to the airport on Sundayyyyyy!"

The day after the wedding was a big family cookout. Grandma and I took the boys out on the boat, to much happiness all around even if there was some pushing and shoving for the seemingly identical front chair positions. When we got back, I took the boys out for some wading (and later with O, actual swimming) into the lake itself -- there were many sand toys (and a Cars-themed kickboard) at our neighbors house that they had generously shared with us. In the evening, the extended family decided to head to Ann Arbor for dinner -- of course at a totally different restaurant. Nah, the same one again. This time we managed to get O to eat some of his dinner in between playing with Z and a little girl who kept walking toys out of the play area (to concern from the boys; her parents brought everything back though), though he again scored ice cream for dessert. Then a brief tour of downtown Ann Arbor, where we did spot a second fairy door -- the local theater's entrance for the faerie folk.

This year is the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation; alas, the class presidents haven't organized anything, and a few other alumni who tried to get something together for August ran out of time and resources -- so it'll be the 21st anniversary before we have an event. I spammed the e-mail list and invited everyone to a casual bring-your-own-picnic at a local park on Saturday and had a few interested responses. Alas, only one classmate showed - we did have a nice time catching up (and the boys had a blast at the park full of climbing, sliding, swinging, and spinning), and I guess too many other classmates were either out of town, had other holiday weekend plans, or no longer live in the area. Anyway, it was a fun morning/afternoon, and the boys were particular fans of an entire playground full of equipment that rotated in dizzying circles. Saturday was also John's birthday -- what a week of big events, happy birthday John!

Sunday was a fairly quiet final day with Uncle B, Aunt J, grandma, and John; we found a local mall with both a play area and a ton of toy vehicles, and the boys were plenty happy to climb around in them even without quarters to run them. Then it was off to return the rental car and get to our plane -- we said a final goodbye to Uncle B and Aunt J (whose flight was due to leave just a few minutes after ours, a few gates down -- due to weather they didn't actually get out and home until today, argh!) and were on the first of two planes back. Another sleepless flight for the boys, though we were all pleased to see the second plane had a 2-4-2 configuration, so we had two rows to ourselves. O discovered the glow bracelets and was wearing about twenty by the end of the flight. There was a final hiccup when our car seat didn't make the last leg of the flight (it showed up today - while mildly annoyed and exhausted at the time, I was amused that the tracking e-mails and site were managed by the very appropriately named wheresmysuitcase.com), but we eventually were home at 11 pm. An end to an exhausting but excellent trip -- mazel tov once more to grandma and John! It was so good to see aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, friends, and to meet new members of the family at the same time. The boys are still talking about flying on the airplanes and the next time we'll be able to go to the airport (and I suspect they still will be for some time!), and it was a lovely trip home. Welcome to the family, John! Pictures of the adventure here.

Second Tooth

He's been wiggling it and talking about the tooth fairy since the first tooth came out, and sure enough, Z's second tooth came out while brushing his teeth after bath time last night. Unfortunately yesterday was Seattle's hottest day of the summer yet, and between that and the excitement, both boys were ridiculously energetic and uncooperative for way too long past bedtime. O didn't get to sleep until nearly 10 o'clock, and when I tried to sneak in for the tooth fairy to replace the tooth, he stirred a bit, so I had to abort until this morning. Somehow it all worked out, and Z was pleased to open his tooth fairy pillow pocket to discover an Eisenhower dollar coin. Of course his first thought was that it was chocolate gelt, but eventually he got the idea and happily plopped it into his piggy bank.

I forgot to mention Z's reaction to his tooth fairy present for his first tooth. The morning after putting his tooth under his pillow, I showed him how to pull a rolled up dollar bill out of the same pillow pocket; he unrolled it, looked at it, and proclaimed, "It's a picture of a man!" Indeed it is.

Sign Language

There's a fountain outside of the sushi restaurant we frequent. The last few times, the boys have decided it was a good idea to walk along the edge of the circular fountain. Today, O noticed the prominently displayed sign and commented, "It says no peoples in here." Not a bad guess. Z proceeded to accidentally step into the fountain wearing shoes/socks approximately 10 seconds later.

Air brush

Both boys are pretty big into drawing -- crayons, markers, pens, and (as pictured) magnetic boards. The subjects are mostly cars and vehicles, though with a plane flight in the near future, airplanes, airports, catering vehicles, and "tunnels" (Z's description for jetways) are gaining popularity. Z has additionally increasingly focused on numbers, letters, and words. Lately I've noticed him even practicing spelling words in the air when a drawing instrument isn't readily at hand -- and today, Meh witnessed that when he was displeased with how he'd formed an air-drawn letter, he actually "erased" it with a brush of his hand and drew it again!

Strawberry Festival, Hold the Strawberries

If you ever thought sandwich board or staked-into-the-ground advertisements were a total waste, today proved that wrong for us. The boys were up early and wild as can be and needed a morning activity before we could take them to lunch (you can imagine how early it must've been when the lunch place opens at 11), and as we started driving down towards the local u-pick blueberry farm, I spotted a sign for a "Strawberry Festival".

Intrigued, we made the u-turn around back to one of the boys' favorite local parks, where we parked the car to find O and Z nirvana: bounce houses (they sampled one), the actual playground/water toys of the park, pony rides, a train ride, and a main stage with their favorite band jamming away. Z immediately sat in a seat and smiled at the band while O started dancing in the kiddie mosh pit area. Z eventually joined him and they had a blast dancing to the rest of the set; at one point a giant Geico Gecko danced through (because what says Bellevue like an insurance icon?), which Z loved and O got immediately shy of.

Next we were off to one of the several giant bounce houses, a perennial favorite -- we're actually considering renting one for Z's next birthday if we end up celebrating at home. Then everyone was hungry (and it was starting to rain), so we grabbed space at a table in the festival's giant tent and I hunted down faire food, namely hot dogs (declined by the boys despite O strongly requesting one) and elephant ears (eagerly consumed by O). (If you were wondering about the festival's namesake, I couldn't for the life of me actually see any fresh strawberries, just the usual faire Shishkaberry chocolate-covered strawberry stand.) With the rain still coming down, our time at the festival was over -- and it was on to some indoor play to wrap up a lovely family morning.

Revisionist History

Last day of school! Z celebrated the end of kindergarten with another themed day; last Friday was silly hair day (he went to school with a number of colorful clips pinning his hair up in goofy tufts), and today was wear-your-pajamas-to-school day. O was not to be outdone and insisted on wearing his own PJs to his nanny's house.

Over the past few days, Z has been bringing home many of his long-term school items, but it's still hard to believe the end of the year is already here. We'll definitely miss the "Over the weekend I..." sentences and drawings he brought home, many of which were increasingly relevant and super cute (he brought one home that apparently had been on the wall of fame at school about swimming in the pool at nanny and poppy's, complete with an excellent self-portrait of backfloating in the pool). Next week he starts the summer camp that he had a blast at last summer, and the week after that we'll be in Michigan for grandma and John's wedding!

All of the parents from his class got an e-mail a few days ago from his teacher indicating that there had been a typo in the school yearbook and that they would be receiving a "correction", as a row of kids photos had apparently inadvertently been clipped from the yearbook. We didn't actually order the school yearbook this year, but the correction came home in everyone's backpack -- a strip of sticker-backed paper with 7 students' pictures and names -- and yup, the classic image of Z was one of them. So there ya go, we got the focused portion of the yearbook we would have been most interested in after all!

Dental Record

It finally happened - after putting O and Z to bed (followed by their inevitable winding each other up, chatting, and running around mostly in their room) tonight, when Meh went to check on Z, he had a gap in his mouth: his increasingly wiggly loose tooth had finally fallen out! She asked where it was, and at first he indicated that he'd swallowed it -- but a shake of the blankie and the little white piece of calcium fell to the floor. We've been reading Meh's favorite childhood book on the subject, so Meh quickly showed him that she'd put it in a tiny pillowcase underneath his pillow so the tooth fairy might come to visit. Now of course we've just got to remember to book that visit before we go to bed tonight. Congrats on your first lost tooth, Mr. Z!

Fathers of Flight

Happy fathers day to all of the dads out there! Ours was a family affair; the Museum of Flight had a special dad's day celebration, so we caravanned with mima and papa down to the facility. The boys were super excited and talking about it the whole way down, and when we arrived, the many outdoor (and indoor) planes didn't disappoint! There was even a giant lego table, where a lego guy (enthusiast? professional?) had dumped out mounds and mounds of random parts, and kids got to assemble their own vehicles of choice to go on display for the day. There were a number of famous flying vehicles (Enterprise, Millennium Falcon, Battlestar Galactica, flying DeLorean, etc.) all made of custom legos as well. O made a very impressive 'something', then explained to the man that he was going to leave it right *there*. Z in the meantime found the front half of a 737 with seats, and decided to sit down and wait for the flight to depart.

Then we heard there was some sort of build your own candy plane project, and we *had* to go check that out. A tube of smarties (fuselage), a fruit leather (wings), and rubber banded Life Savers (wheels) later, we had both a clutch-toy for the rest of the trip (for each of them) and a snack for the ride home - score! We crossed the street to the (I believe new) annex, which had a giant space exhibit, including a scale model of the space shuttle that Z was super pleased with, before heading outside to check out the original prototype 747, a circa-1970 Air Force One (O apparently decided to make himself at home and tried to remove the plexiglass preventing people from sitting in it -- I expect a Secret Service visit at any moment), and a Concorde. The boys definitely would have been pleased to stay the whole day! As we learned later in the day, Z will indeed get that wish -- he's right back here next Wednesday when his first week of camp's field trip brings him "back to the Museum of Flight... another time!"

Fire squad

Several months ago when we got our utility bill of all things, I noticed a corner of it announced that the local firehouse was going to be having a pancake breakfast. Since our favorite monkey had a related adventure, I knew this would be right up the boys' alley -- but I wasn't sure if I could brave taking them alone, as Meh works this weekend. Enter Uncle J, who volunteered to come along, and with whom we spent a lovely morning -- first at the breakfast and then having a lovely sushi lunch. Thanks for helping me wrangle our little firefighters, Uncle J!

From the moment I mentioned the activity this morning, both boys were super excited. O even ran upstairs and put on the little fireman's costume jacket (which he was reluctant to take off even when we got to the very sunny and warm event), and both boys insisted on wearing their bright red hats. When we arrived, a number of activities were in full swing: they were demonstrating the jaws of life on an overturned car in the parking lot (O: "Why is that car upside down?"), wrapping up the torching of a room to demonstrate what happens with and without sprinklers, getting ready to dash up their practice fire escapes with hoses, and of course serving lots and lots of pancakes and eggs. The boys would have none of it though, making a beeline through the table and chair-filled firehouse to the ambulance and fire truck themselves, which were parked outside. A nice fireman helped each of them up into the cab of the fire engine, commenting on their hats ('real' firemen don't wear such things anymore apparently), and then they dashed up onto the back of the ambulance for a fabulous photo op. It was an excellent morning activity, followed up by a hearty lunch with uncle J.

Loose Tooth

On Friday morning I noticed a gap in Z's teeth, and yesterday Meh commented on the same -- when we asked Z about it, he touched it, and you could see one of his bottom front teeth moving quite a bit. It's Z's very first loose tooth! Fear not, the internets (source of all truth) indicate it's typical for kids to start losing baby teeth by the time they're turning six, so he's only slightly on the early side. But very exciting times - the thought of loose teeth jarred some childhood memory for Meh, and she's planning to hunting for a library book that she remembered reading about rabbits and loose teeth.

Meh has been having a very full weekend of activities with friend I's wedding shower (magnificently executed by Meh and several other friends from what I hear) and some quality mima time involving toes and tea. The boys and I took the opportunity to go to a friend's birthday party yesterday (the boys were very well behaved, though O did insist on raiding J's entire fabulous collection of toys and emptying them out all over the family room), and then today we all checked out the castle park O and I visited in our day-of-four-parks. When I attempted to circle the park looking for parking, I instead found more street parking along with a bonus mini-playground. The boys were very excited about the see-saw ("Zachary, go up!" was O's helpful suggestion/command to Z), and we then got to do a lovely nature walk in the fabulous summery weather (in June no less, quite novel for Seattle), right past the fire station (and multiple firehouse ambulances and engines) to the bigger park, before looping back around through the forest and having a nice snack and more play time at the smaller playground.

Trickle Down Economics

The boys have not had a ton of chores around the house, but as they (O in particular) have been increasingly obsessive about new toys any time they spot one in the store. I've actually taken O to the big Seattle area grocery-sporting goods-department store several times just to cruise past their displays of vehicles. Both boys have actually made piece about sometimes browsing toys without actually buying them -- they can put them on their "wish list", which, despite I suppose the readily available electronic or paper versions, are currently completely within their minds and subject to change with each visit. Still, we'll have a pretty good idea of what to put on the actual birthday and holiday wish lists when the time comes.

Still, wish lists only get you so far, and it was perhaps time to start teaching the value of a dollar. So over the past few weeks, we've started giving them a weekly allowance for setting the table (O, who yells at us or Z if we inadvertently do the job for him), clearing the table (Z, who does a great job of carefully bringing the plates over from the table, only to fling them at high speed/height into the sink if we're not there to help guide him with the last step), making beds, cleaning up toys before bedtime (my personal favorite), and yes, occasionally just for listening us (as in "if you can't stop fighting, you're not going to get your allowance this week").

At the end of the week, they each get 50 cents to put in their piggy banks (a bus for O, a ceramic car for Z), as well as 50 cents to put into the tzedakah (charity) box. After we save up a bit, they'll get to choose where to donate that money to (O lately has indicated he wants to give it to the zoo to "help the animals have snack".) The boys have been enthusiastic about the process thus far, and yesterday was the first actual purchase for O; Meh took him to a local dollar store and he picked out (shock of shocks) a small orange taxi matchbox car. He's been proudly toting it around, and yes, occasionally even sharing it with "the brother".