I have really felt the need to get in as much "only child" time as possible with Alden before the new kid arrives. To that end, we have made every effort to (over)indulge his love of vehicles of all sorts, with a bunch of special, vehicle-centered trips nearly every weekend for the past month!

Early one morning, AJ called to let me know a coal carrier was on its way into the bay. I hopped in the car, and took Alden to one of the observation points that dot the lake front. We watched the boat for about an hour, and Alden couldn't stop saying, "Look, Mommy. A gig ship!"



That next weekend, we spent several hours downtown at the library, where the city had examples of all it's vehicles for kids to climb in. Alden loved the firetruck, and would have spent all day in there. He actually managed to turn the wheels on that thing (it was up on braces because they had the ladder extended on the back). He managed to get in an ambulance, a dump/plow truck, a gator with a plow, a police SUV and the firetruck (twice!). He talked about it for days afterwards. He still looks for the firetruck when we go to the library.




Perhaps the best, and most anticipated, trip was our train ride in Duluth. We chose the shorter, hour-and-a-half ride.