Spring Break, Chloe Style!

 Sometimes if you want something bad enough, your dad will get it for you.  It also helps if your dad works for the school and knows a few people.  Chloe has been enamored with school buses for a while now.  She calls out school bus sightings from the back seat whenever there is one within a two mile radius...and that's a lot.  The kid likes school buses.

Yesterday, I decided to see if I could get her a date with a school bus.  My intention was to drop by and see the people at the bus barn and show off Chloe and maybe get her a close up peek at a bus.  But they were out for the day.  So Chloe said, "Bye buthes." and we went to the school next door and let the dogs run...and Chloe.  When we crossed the field she saw that we were RIGHT NEXT TO THE BUSES!!!!  She yelled at me, as if I wasn't aware of the proximity of the buses.  "DAD! BUTH!!"  She was one excited little girl!

A few minutes later we spied a bus driver.  I called over and asked if there might be a small chance for a little girl to get a tour of a REAL school bus?  She said she might be able to work it into her schedule.  So a while later we were right next to a bus.  Chloe was excited!!

 You can imagine her exploring the bus.  Not an ounce of reluctance!  She was ready to drive us away!

 We walked next to the batting cages and two quail were caught in there surprised.  I caught a magpie in there last summer, so I thought I'd show Chloe a bird close up.  I did.  The male managed to find his way out, but this female was not so lucky.  I captured her, and then let Chloe get a closer look.  The we released her.  I dare say the quail was relieved that we did not intend to eat her!

 I had my 50mm lens on, so it wasn't wide enough to easily take a picture of Chloe and the quail together, this is the only one I got.

 Then we dropped the dogs off at home and went to a park with some equipment for her to play on.

 I managed to find an enlarger that someone was throwing away.  I cannibalized a few parts and I now have a 75mm lens with a bellows.  It gives me some really crappy shots.  I have to do everything manually.  It is a bit challenging when you have a quick-moving subject, but once in awhile the I got the exposure close enough and the details are grabbed by the camera and when I get home I can extract an image like this!  Looks like a shot from the 1950s, huh!!?

 We went home after that and had lunch.  Gosh, we did a lot yesterday.  We painted (some sort of craft was absolutely necessary according to Chloe), let the dogs run, let the Chloe run, saw a school bus, went to the park, had lunch, and, after nap, we went over to Nana's to get the paper and move the garbage can back in, then she drove the truck for about 30 minutes.

By that, I mean she stayed in the truck and pretended to drive...she climbed around between seats and basically she was being good in a confined space.  I left the kitchen window open and a 4 inch wide opening in the truck window that she could call out of when she was done playing.  Of course, much of my time was spent next to the window and making trips out to check on her.  She was content to sit out there and enjoy herself.  From time to time she would squeeze her head to the window and point out an airplane flying over.  Still, she did not want to get out until Mommy got home.

Funny thing is, I recall many hours spent in a car imagining driving or pretending all sorts of cool stuff.  Since the weather was overcast and the temperature cool, I had no problem letting her enjoy the confines of the car for a while.

I made burgers and we had a decent dinner with pineapple slices on the burgers!  Yum!

Cora has been working longer hours and I'm not sure I'm enjoying it.  I remember when she could make it away from the plant sometime around 4:30pm...now it's more like 5:30 or 6!  I'm not a fan of her new job.  Also, I think Chloe and I both would welcome Mom home for a spring break of her own!