Touch A Truck

I had been feeling quite neglectful with the kiddos lately - like we never DO anything or GO anywhere... never mind that it is like preparing for battle just to leave the front door - I mean, will these kids have any memories of things that are not at the home of a family member?  Now they will!  Hurray!  Enter Touch a Truck!  A fabulously priced fundraiser from the Junior League tipped off to me by the lovely Mrs. Kaufmann who has helped organize the event for the last few years.


Quinny, my love (should you be reading this), I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't think this was the silliest excuse for an outing that anyone ever conjured up.  How about touch a bunny?  Or really ANYTHING except a truck.  And then I had boys.  And with those boys came trucks.  And then - like is want to happen with any married couple that loves each other very very much - those trucks decided to multiply.  Then, having the confidence of trucks raised in a large family, the trucks started luring the girls into their big dump bins.  And so the DiStefano's came to love trucks.  We play with the trucks inside with blocks.  And outside in the dirt and sand.  And we have books about trucks.  We shout at the top of our lungs "beeeg tuk!" every time we pass a truck on the road.  And we love to watch Bob the Builder because those trucks TALK - and I got myself to thinking... TOUCH A TRUCK IS FLIPPING BRILLIANT!

And it kind of is too!  It was a moderately priced day out at the Reading Philly Stadium.  I roped the always willing PopPop into being my extra pair of hands (and also he probably likes trucks more than me).  We loaded up the kiddies and drove over to make us some memories.  The parking lot was full of different types of trucks - from dump trucks to telephone repair trucks... Monster Trucks and stock cars.  And as the kids approached them their eyes were wide with excitement.  "beeg tuk!  beeg tuk!" SCORE!  I thought.  We were going to have a great day!  We paid for our tickets (got some great stamps on our hands from Mrs. Kaufmann) and walked up to the first truck.

And then a little tyke who apparently waited in line to get inside the truck that was decked out like a train found the chord for the air horn and let her rip - again, and again, and again... (because that is what you do when you gain access to a truck horn.)  But let me tell you what happened on my end... This is what happened:

Total meltdowns.  Alex froze.  Emma and Belle ran in little circles and then clung to our sides with tears in their eyes, and Jack broke into hysterical fear induced tears.  Do you think, after this, PopPop or I could get anyone anywhere near a truck?  Hell to the no.  But we were only about 10 minutes into our outing, and I didn't want to throw in the towel yet!

We wandered inside where the ladies of the league had set up tables to plant flowers and to make your own rainbow of healthy foods.  We each made a rainbow (said hi to Mrs. Sharer who was busy manning her panting stand) and then found a table amidst the stadium snack stands.  Here I let the kids eat their healthy rainbow, but found myself lured in by the wafting smell of hot dogs and french fries... We got a little snack - ate our fill, and then followed a few other families into the stadium where we found our joy.  The bleachers.

Hey, it wasn't a truck, but the entrance was cheaper than a game ticket and we had a lot more room to run around.  I think they could have stayed here all day - but eventually PopPops and My eyes were glazing over (actually, I think it was just me) and we were approaching the magic nap hour - which I refuse to mess with.  And so PopPop helped me usher the kiddos out to the parking lot once more.

Maybe it was the bases, or tasting the rainbow, or just that magic gift of time - but on our way out the girls were suddenly feeling a bit braver.  We actually waited in line to go in the dump truck where this very nice fellow, (we'll call him Mike, because he kind of looks like a Mike) helped the girls raise and lower the big dump bin on the back of the truck - AND we ALL got a little dump truck to take home.  How very exciting.  Even Jack lifted his head slightly from PopPop's shoulder to look at his new toy for a second - but he buried it again pretty quickly at the next wail of the train horn.

Emma listening to "Mike" for her instructions on how to "dump" the truck 

Pressing the button to make the back lift on the truck

Being brave and letting "Mike" lift her out of the truck 

Adding to the chorus of horns - a much more delicate sounding horn on this truck!

Bella watching through the window to see the truck bin raise 

and bringing the bin back down.  (PS the two people through the window were filming
belle the whole time - maybe she'll be famous!)

I felt that overall our day was about as successful as any outing that I've every endeavored to take all four kiddos on.  And, go figure, Jack talked all about the "beeg tucks" happily as we drove away from them.  Of course, the true mark of success for me -they all took excellent naps when we got home.  I think that next year is going to be a terrific touch a truck year for the kids and I'm looking forward to giving it another go!  Thanks for tipping us off Quinny and thanks so much for coming with PopPop!  We couldn't have gone without you and your now tear and snot coated shoulder!