Leaves, Naps, and the Big Red Bus

 Our rental house is situated on four wooded acres.  As far as I can tell the property contains approximately zero evergreen trees.  Since it is November, the end of the fall season, most of the leaves from the trees now cover the ground.  Four acres covered in a 4-inch blanket of leaves.  Saying that we have a lot of leaves is an understatement.

So, when Jeremiah brought me a leaf this afternoon and said, "Look at my leaf, Mommy.  It's my money."  I panned the front yard and thought, "If every leaf were a dollar, how wealthy with this little guy be?"  My guess is that he would be a billionaire.  And by next year at this time...maybe he could get the United States out of debt.

Speaking of Jeremiah, he has proven to be a champion sleeper.  His move to a big boy bed has been a smooth transition with only a few nights of him getting up to play.  Even nap time has been a breeze.  I give him a stack of board books and instructions to go to sleep when he is finished reading.  And you know what?  He actually follows orders.  Amazing!

Here he is after putting himself down for a nap this afternoon.

 

I noticed something inside the driver's door of our big red van today.  On the little label that has our VIN, make, year, etc. the vehicle type says this, "Bus (Not a school bus)".  We often call it the Big Red Bus just because Jeremiah calls it that and sometimes will refuse to get in if we call it a van or a car.  I guess he was right afterall.

This morning we went into Charlottesville for an appointment.  While there we had to park in a parking garage.  I think this is the first time we have parked in one since getting the Big Red Bus last month.  Boy was it stressful...and I wasn't even the one driving!

We were instructed to move up to the third level but I don't think the attendant was paying much attention to the great height of our vehicle.  As we passed a row of "Oversized Vehicle" parking spaces, I thought how great it was that they offered these spots and I assumed they were on each level.

I was wrong.

You know those big metal beams that hang from the ceiling of parking garages?  You know how they have a height limit written on them?  And do you know how many times you drive right underneath and never give it a second thought?

Well, apparently our red van is nearly seven feet tall because we couldn't quite make it under the metal beam.  Instead we had to wait for clearance to turn around (have you tried to make a tight U-Turn in a giant vehicle?) and head back to the oversized vehicle spots.  Praise the Lord for those!

Obviously we made it in and out without real incident.  However, even in the oversized space our bumber was hanging past the end of the line.  Ugh...

Next up: Parallel parking.