O Captain! My Captain!

Alright, so the title is as close to a great literary work as this blog will ever get - my sincerest apologies to Whitman for the blatant plagiarism.

Today started with Sunday school and lunch followed by an afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Jackson, Daddy, and Grandpa braved the chilly and windy weather to cruise the Occoquan. The weather wasn't great but the view was wonderful. Trees filling out with vibrant greens, flowers blooming in stunning colors, and birds soaring upon spread wings.

Enough with the attempt at inspiring prose - Jackson just wanted to let you know that HE DROVE THE BOAT!

Take a Kid to a Car Show

Jackson and Daddy had just finished delivering a trunk full of garbage bags to the landfill and were on our way to the library when Daddy spotted some beautiful old cars in the back of a parking lot and a tiny little sign that said "Car Show". Jackson and Daddy had no schedule to keep so it was on to the car show!

The show was a smallish affair behind held by the American Antique Automobile Association, in a parking lot behind the VFW Hall. There were several really old cars, sorta old cars, and several cars that were almost modern in comparison (an '84 Datsun 240?).

The cars were all wonderfully restored - to the point you have to wonder about the sanity of the owners. Every bolt, nut, wire, panel, paint, and chrome were perfect in every way. I daresay the time spent getting these cars to their current condition would be measured in decades, not months. Maybe a better indicator of the amount of time it takes is the age of the owners, many in the winter of their lives.

Enough about the old farts. The young kids were enjoying the cars with smiling faces and happy exclamations of "Look at this one!" or "I love that red car!". Jackson bounced energetically from one masterpiece to the next, pausing here and there to note a small detail of chrome lettering, or to admire the shine of the tires.

One kind soul noticed Jack peering into her car and was quick to ask if he would like to sit inside. Well, of course he would! After walking along several rows of pretty cars and being told by his father to not touch the cars, here Jack was able to SIT IN ONE! Thank you ma'am for allowing my son to sit in your car and pretend he was driving (all the while giggling with delight!). Oh, and ma'am, thank you as well for creating the situation where my son would now ask me incessantly if he could sit in this car, or perhaps this car, or maybe even this one over here, Daddy....

Jackson and Daddy walked the car show twice, and decided to pick out which car we thought Mommy would most enjoy....This is what we both picked.

There were a few nicely done motorcycles there as well, with this Honda from the 1970s being my favorite.

Jackson asked to hold the camera to take pictures. I complied and out of all the vehicles in the lot - of all the gorgeous cars, he takes a picture of this...