Yesterday Brandon and our friend Adam were on-call, so Melissa and I decided we'd spend the day together. Well, the plan started out that we'd spend the morning together, but after having lunch we realized we didn't want to spend more time at home than we had to and thought we'd meet up after naps and go to Destin to shop and have dinner. That morning we took the kids to the fair grounds to something called Construction Junction. It was free and going have lots of big trucks and "diggers" (for those of you who don't know what a "digger" is, I've been asked a few times, it's anything used in construction. Just easier to say that then to name each one and have to explain what that is.) It could not have been a more perfect day! The sky was blue and it was about 64 degrees with a little wind (also very bright which is why the photos have a nice glow to them). They had a covered area with a Home Depot kids workshop set up giving the kids about 8 different options of things to build. We picked the firetruck, but Christopher was too excited about the cup of candy he got when we walked in to build it, so we brought it home to do later. They had a raffle with all kinds of diggers that would be given away later on. Christopher thought they were free to take, but I had to explain to him they were just to look at. We walked all around and saw everything from firetrucks to garbage trucks to sewer trucks to dump trucks to mixer trucks to backhoes to baby excavators to bulldozers to front loaders and finally a scraper. That was the only one I had to ask about b/c they look similar to pavers and hay balers. (Ok, so maybe they don't, but you don't see them as often as the others so I get them confused sometimes.) They also had a big sand pile with all kinds of shovels and molds the kids could play with. When we left there we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and then home for naps. When my kids woke up we went to pick up Melissa and her kids to head to Destin. We forgot it was spring break and the traffic was backing up due to a wreck. Thankfully I've figured out a few back roads so we saved about 45 minutes by doing that. We shopped a little and then grabbed dinner and had promised the kids we'd let them play on the playground, which they loved! Next thing we knew it was 8:30 and we were still playing. We quickly gathered the kids and headed home. By the time we got to our house it was after 9:30 and I put Sophie to bed, picked up a few things in case Brandon got home earlier than expected in the morning and Christopher and I went to bed. It was a lot of fun, but we were all really tired this morning! I'm sorry Brandon and Adam missed it, but I know that the patients appreciated their help. One of them (a full bird colonel!!) actually called him later to tell him what a good job he did helping his son out. I'm proud of him!

Christopher and Sophie in front of one of the dump trucks. He was so overwhelmed he would hardly talk and wouldn't go up in most of the trucks. It's so funny b/c he's so obssessed with these things.

The kids sitting on the steps of what I think is the sewer cleaner. They have one of these on Christopher latest truck movie and it's used to help keep the sewers clear, works like a vacuum from my understanding. Gross job if you ask me! Don't worry all the trucks were very clean!

Christopher sitting in the garbage truck. It's the only one he'd climb inside of. I had to go up there and honk the horn b/c he was frozen. The other kids didn't have a problem though.

Sophie sitting on the claw of a material handler. If you aren't sure, it's like a dump truck with an excavator arm/claw. They use them to clean up demolition sites. (They have several on base down the street from our house. That's how I know.)

Christopher and Landon behind the dump truck. There was a nice man sitting in the cab and when kids climbed up there he'd show them how you make it dump. The boys got so excited and started jumping up and down. Once it started getting higher they backed up b/c they didn't want to get the dirt dumped on them. (There was no dirt and the back was chained shut.)

Christopher in front of a tire on the scraper. Sophie wouldn't stand there with him. She wanted to go to the sand pile.

The kids on top of the scraper. Christopher loved climbing on this and did it twice. Not sure why this was better than the others, but whatever!

Christopher by himself up on the scraper. He tried to figure out how to go higher, but I made him come down. One of the dad's said I looked like I was having as much fun as he was. (I did!)

Sophie walked all over pointing to the different trucks. It was really cute! It's so obvious she has a big brother b/c all she knows is trucks too. I'm not sure if she loves them as much as he does or just likes to see him get excited.

The kids playing in the sand. It was a great day!!! You should check and see if your city has one of these. It's free and the kids have a blast!!!