Today Flynn's preschool class went to the Park District's annual "Touch A Truck" extravaganza. This event has never been a favorite of either of my children (or me but I go), aside from the free ice cream and pop. It's usually hot (not this year - today it was downright chilly even standing in the sunshine), crowded with preschoolers in various stages of melt-down and noisy (what with all the honking and beeping of various car horns). The novelty of the day wears off in about 5 minutes. I volunteered to chaperon, as did most of the class's parents. I escorted my daughter and one of her best friends, the delightful and lovely Miss B.
Right at 10:00 we were headed to the bouncy houses, where I happened to see 3/4 of the Freak Family, a nice surprise. Miss B was in and out of the bouncy castle in about a minute flat and Flynn didn't bother. Then we were on to the ice cream, this year provided by the delicious Cold Stone Creamery, the Pepsi truck for a drink and then a quick tour of the Champaign library's bookmobile. The girls walked around with their fingers in their ears.
At least this year the CPD seemed to have figured out a good placement for all the cars and trucks involved. In previous years (and this is my 4th or 5th year at TAT) a semi or street sweeper was parked near the parking lot and horn-happy kids would laying on that LOUD and OBNOXIOUS thing like there was no tomorrow, blowing out the eardrums of the unfortunate souls standing within a 10 yard radius. This year those trucks were, thankfully, parked on the opposite side of the park. We didn't go over there.
The girls had had enough of the honking, the beeping, the insanely loud Kidz Bop treacly noise blaring from the CPD's stage. For my charges, the police department's bomb squad robot was blase. There was no desire to honk a car horn or crawl around a monster truck tire or sit on a tricked-out motorcycle. The only truck Flynn had a remote interest in was the USPS's and that was only because they were giving away plastic bags and a coloring book (that girl cannot resist the siren call of anything resembling a shopping bag). These are the girliest of girls, Miss B's Pokemon obsession aside.
We were back at my car in a record 15 minutes.
Flynn and Miss B spent the next hour watching an episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends then switching to Flushed Away, coloring and playing in my car since the playground at Centennial Park is currently under construction. Speaking of which, the image of about 15 4- and 5-year-olds standing on top of a mound of dirt looking forlornly at the nearly finished, but roped off, playground is quite haunting. Poor things.
Our last "Touch A Truck."
Thank God.
Right at 10:00 we were headed to the bouncy houses, where I happened to see 3/4 of the Freak Family, a nice surprise. Miss B was in and out of the bouncy castle in about a minute flat and Flynn didn't bother. Then we were on to the ice cream, this year provided by the delicious Cold Stone Creamery, the Pepsi truck for a drink and then a quick tour of the Champaign library's bookmobile. The girls walked around with their fingers in their ears.
At least this year the CPD seemed to have figured out a good placement for all the cars and trucks involved. In previous years (and this is my 4th or 5th year at TAT) a semi or street sweeper was parked near the parking lot and horn-happy kids would laying on that LOUD and OBNOXIOUS thing like there was no tomorrow, blowing out the eardrums of the unfortunate souls standing within a 10 yard radius. This year those trucks were, thankfully, parked on the opposite side of the park. We didn't go over there.
The girls had had enough of the honking, the beeping, the insanely loud Kidz Bop treacly noise blaring from the CPD's stage. For my charges, the police department's bomb squad robot was blase. There was no desire to honk a car horn or crawl around a monster truck tire or sit on a tricked-out motorcycle. The only truck Flynn had a remote interest in was the USPS's and that was only because they were giving away plastic bags and a coloring book (that girl cannot resist the siren call of anything resembling a shopping bag). These are the girliest of girls, Miss B's Pokemon obsession aside.
We were back at my car in a record 15 minutes.
Flynn and Miss B spent the next hour watching an episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends then switching to Flushed Away, coloring and playing in my car since the playground at Centennial Park is currently under construction. Speaking of which, the image of about 15 4- and 5-year-olds standing on top of a mound of dirt looking forlornly at the nearly finished, but roped off, playground is quite haunting. Poor things.
Our last "Touch A Truck."
Thank God.
2 comments:
We spent the first half an hour waiting for a family who didn't bother to call and say they weren't coming. They routinely show up 30 minutes or more late when they are working parent. It's so annoying. By the time we finally went toward the trucks, the lines were so long. I think it's a much better event when you go alone with your own kid rather than try to go with a group and when you go early.
And my daughter went *under* the orange plastic construction fence into the playground and tried it out. Another parent hopped the fence to retrieve her. She was covered in dirt by the time we left. She also has some sort of hives, no doubt from something in the dirt that the kids were digging through with their bare hands.
When she *really* had to go potty and there was a line, none of the other parents let me cut ahead. I saw that the pool appeared to be open so we ran there and used their bathroom. Note to other parents: if a 3yo is saying "I REALLY have to go NOW," let them cut in line.
Despite all that, I think my kids had a good time.
The Boy always liked so we planned to take Ms Thang thinking she would like it too. She liked that we got there early and she got to spend all the time she wanted in the bounce house. She liked that we were first in line for the ice cream and she liked getting the toys at the library booth. Other than that, she was stressed out by all the honking horns, mad that she had to wait in line and frantic that she saw her friend's mom but couldn't find him (she is a teacher and was there with her class but MT was still in a panic). We Made it almost an hour, with over half of that being prior to the actual starting of the event. I doubt we will take her back and TB is too old.
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