My Traveling Sidekick

When it was time to get GG home a couple of weeks ago, we had to change our plans a little bit.  Instead of meeting my uncle about 1 hour and 15 minutes away, we agreed to take her closer to home...about a 2 hour and 15 minute drive for us.

It's not really possible for all five of us (our family + GG) to fit comfortably in our car [as this mama has to wedge in the backseat between the car seats...and she does not do very well with that], I was planning that the girls and I would drive GG down.

That morning, though, Baby B asked to stay home with Daddy.  "It's Father's Day!" she rationalized.  "I want to be with Daddy!"  He couldn't resist that logic, and Baby A agreed to go with me.  We made our way down without incident, had lunch with GG and my uncle, and then A and I headed back north.

It was the most amazing trip!  We only listened to music for maybe 15 minutes...we TALKED the whole time!  My A was incredibly inquisitive.  Yes, I challenged her with math problems, but in turn she made me THINK!

I wish I'd had a video camera to record her musings, but I did jot down a few when we got home...

Math
We were passing Miss C's exit on the interstate, and I reminded A that she drives that far every day to work, about 45 minutes.  A said, "45 minutes each way!  Wow!  That's 90 minutes!"  She said this so matter-of-factly, without any hesitation, it definitely caught me by surprise.

I quizzed A off and on.  "How many seconds are in 4 minutes?" I asked her.  It took her a few seconds to work through it, but she answered correctly, "240!"

And as we were heading back home, A looked at the clock.  "It's 1:30 now, and we left at 9:00.  We've been gone 4 1/2 hours!"  (I swear I know some adults who can't do "clock math" that proficiently!)

History
Baby A was all about the Titanic for some reason.  What was it made of?  Did it just break in half?  What happened to the people on the ship?  How did they call for help without a phone?  Are the people still on the bottom of the ocean?  Were there sharks?  How long does it take for bones to decay?  Why don't they bring everything up from the bottom of the ocean?  You'd need a submarine to go down there.

And on...and on...and on.  I did my best to answer her questions...wowza!

Modes of Transportation
My girl has been fascinated by wagons since we started reading the Little House on the Prairie series.  She's been dating most things in her mind with the question, "Was this when there were wagons?  Or cars?"  All the way back to Biblical times, she wants to know.

And then there was conversation about airplanes...how they work, how fast they can go.

***

When we got to Nashville, we stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few things, and then we made our way to Starbucks for a quick snack.  My A remembered exactly what we bought the last time we made that trip...several months ago...including where we parked.

As a special treat, I got her one of the mini frappucinos, strawberries and cream.  She was super excited...and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of my BIG KID enjoying her BIG KID treat.  She only had about half of it, though.  "It's too sweet, like icing," she told me.  Reason #1,569,312 I love this kid.  I thought that was so mature of her!

This baby girl was a HOOT!  She was a great traveling sidekick, for sure!