touch a truck

today, we went to touch a truck in independence.  it is a free event the city put on for kids to have the opportunity to experience different types of vehicles we see on a daily basis.  oakley was super pumped to go because he knew he would be able to actually get in all of the vehicles and mess with all the buttons and levers, etc.  it was such a neat experience!  he got into a semi (with a bed in the cab...awesome!) :), a mini excavator, a backhoe loader, a firetruck, ambulance, police car, police suv, state trooper car, animal control truck, dump truck, snow plow, kcpl truck, mower, mobile command center truck, helicopter, and i can't think of the others.  this is a little kid's dream!  we had such fun running from vehicle to vehicle.  i have to say, brian probably enjoyed it as much as oakley did.  we learned a lot about some of the vehicles when talking with the "owners."  and it was pretty neat that grandpa frank was working in the mobile command center, showing all the kids what he does for a living. it was a great way to spend a saturday as a family.  such wonderful memories!

on our way out the door.  he is so excited!

love that sweet face.

children's mercy ambulance.  pretty cool oakley got to see the ambulance that goes with the hospital his daddy works at.

in the driver's seat of the semi.  he was too afraid to honk the horn.  he kept telling the guy, "no.  i don't want to honk it."  the guy thought it was really funny!

checking out the snowplow's big engine.

driving the snow plow.  happy kid.

trash truck!  we are pretty much obsessed with trash trucks these days, so this was awesome for oakley.  the guy did a great job explaining how everything works.  so neat!

driving the trash truck.

power line truck

children's mercy ambulance.  see?  perma-smile.  this boy had a blast!

fire truck

state trooper car.  he turned on the lights.  awesome.  :)

driving the boat

excavator.  on our way to the event, oakley said, "i think there will be an excavator there.  and i will drive it."  we were so happy they had one for him to sit in.  he was thrilled!

backhoe loader.

mommy and oakley photo op in front of the semi tow truck.

grandpa frank and oakley in the mobile command center.

when we first got there, brian was talking to the guys from children's mercy.  brian knew the helicopter was going to be there, but we didn't see it.  the emt from cmh said they were on a call this morning, and they might come a little later.  right before we were leaving, brian saw the chopper in the distance, so we went over to the part of the parking lot that was blocked off and we were able to watch the helicopter land, then oakley was able to get into it.  it was a really cool thing to watch!  oakley was mesmerized.  at dinner, we asked him what his favorite part of his day was and he said, "watching that helicopter land and getting in it, too."  we were happy we stayed as long as we did so we could see the helicopter.

watching the chopper land.

still watching

in the chopper, taking it all in.

what a great day!