Kiddies, Don't Start the Engines

We took a family outing to the car show at the Baltimore Convention Center today.  The kids had a grand time sitting in the cars, pressing buttons, and "driving".  I don't encourage this kind of exploring in my car since it usually leads to loud horn honking and an explosion of heat, music, turn signals, wipers at full blast, and four-ways flashing when I turn on my car after said exploration.

It was somewhat relaxing to let them push and turn without causing any damage to the car or them.  

That's my girl, two hands on the wheel.

Looks like Daddy in his manual car days- one hand on the
wheel, the other on the gear shift.  Daddy will be the
one and only one to teach him stick shift.

My finest moment as a parent (at the car show) was watching Evie attempt to put on the seat belt as soon as you got in the car.  Model, model, model parents of little ones.  They. Are. Watching.

We always buckle up in the car.  

Our bank account thanks our kids for causing enough distraction for Daddy that he couldn't seriously look at any cars.  Note- we are NOT looking for a new car.  We both LOVE our cars.  However... there was one car that caught our attention... besides the minivan with the vacuum in the back.  Brilliant Honda.

Braylen thought this golden rod colored car was pretty cool

We got a little glimpse at our future drivers

I can just see Emily and Evie driving away in a jeep
14 years from now.

You totally know Evie will be the driver, telling
Braylen to stop changing the song.

Or worse, make him sit in the back.  

Today was "family day" at the car show.  I'm not quite sure what they had today over other days that made it family-like.  Maybe the person dressed up as the Geico gecko?  Evie was terrified of that thing.  She insisted I hold her as we walked past it and once I put her down, she checked behind her shoulder numerous times to make sure it wasn't coming after her.  Noted.  Too young for any shows or events that have "real life" characters.

To top off our fun morning as a family, the kids gave us the afternoon "off" by sleeping close to 3 hours, a true sign of a successful outing.