The kids and us: Buses

Teddy likes trains. I suppose that's not a big surprise as anything that's big and noisy has to appeal to a little boy.

But what Teddy really likes are buses. Before getting into details about his fondness for buses, a slight detour...

For a while, we were biking into work. I would throw Teddy into his seat on the back and would bike for 15 minutes or so to get him to daycare before going to work. It was quite nice. It got us to daycare/work quickly and allowed us to quickly get back to pick up Margaret from her school in the evening. And it was a nice little workout for me that helped me wake up in the morning. (It's amazing how easy it is to ride a bike now that I don't have the extra weight pulling me around in the back. In fact, I sometimes feel a bit unstable without the extra ballast holding me down.) Teddy always had a fine time in the back, but he's been getting too big for the seat. So rather than biking in, we have lately been walking or getting a ride from Mama into daycare/work, after which we hurry home with the stroller to pick up Margaret.

Which is when Teddy is able to talk about buses. We see lots of buses on the way to get Margaret, and as each passes, Teddy asks, "What bus is that?" I reply with the bus number. "And where's it going?" I read the front of the bus and give the best reply that I can. "Oh," he says. Then we repeat the routine with the next bus.

"What bus is that?"

"The 38B."

"Where's it going?"

"That one goes to Virginia."

"Oh."

Then,

"What bus is that?"

"The D4."

"Where's it going?"

"Ummm, I'm not really sure."

Over and over again. I've started to get pretty good about identifying the various buses and where they go. Up Wisconsin Avenue to the Safeway, out by where Margaret has ballet lessons, over to Union Station (which always prompts the boy to chirp, "We've been there before with Joe and Lizzie!").

Sometimes, we even get to ride a bus home (if we're not in a rush because the bus tends to get stuck in traffic and move slower, or at least at a more variable speed, than us.) And Teddy has a ball sitting there poking at the emergency windows, asking if we're going to get off, and generally watching the world go by.

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So it's been some time since I've posted any pictures. Thus, a multimedia cornucopia.

Here are some from our annual Labor Day trip to Philly, where Joe, Andrew, Teddy and I went to a futbol game...