Erie Bound

After the Bear Lake climb P and I jumped in the car and headed to Erie, a little town outside of Boulder, to visit P's pals and Aunt B. Though Phoenix hasn't seen Charlie and Sam since last summer, they are always near and dear to his heart, he even named his baby doll an unusually normal name (vs Beek Mok et al) : Sam.

The drive to Erie is about an hour and a half and I wasn't sure how that would work with me driving and P having already napped his way down the Bear Lake Trail. Fortunately, he was ready to chat and create. He spent almost the entire drive designing his super car. Here are the highlights.

Its a car. But its the right size for Phoenix to drive. Without a car seat! On top of the car there is a bunch of grass. On top of the grass is a mountain. Above the mountain is a stream. And next to that is another stream and they connect with a waterfall. Above that there is a hook. Uncle Seth hangs out on this hook. Above that are the clouds and in the clouds there are cabins. A cabin for Seth and Alicia. Cabins for Everyone in the family. And there are ladders in the cabins so everyone can get to everyone else and the mountain. There's also super glue in the cabins to attach everything together on the car. And above that there is a candy factory. That Phoenix owns. And above that there is a toy factory. Yup. Also owned by Phoenix. Both usable by the whole family. Above that there are gardens for our vegetables and for growing bread (I swear we've explained the process of wheat to him! He's even enjoyed the Little Red Hen story numerous times. When I asked him the next day if he meant wheat instead of bread he said no. He would grow toast from toast seed, just like in the book "Stuart's Cape.") Above that there are barns (at this point we passed a stockyard) for all of the animals in the world so that nobody can eat them. And his car can fly. With the mountain still attached. And it is aquatic, too.

The driving was pretty daunting for me (having only driven twice in the last 6 months) so listening and nodding was all I really managed. And I think I'm going to have to try lessoning the verbal validation more in the future - minimal feedback really gave his imagination room to roam. And then some.

He's not only added to his car everyday since then, but he's seriously on the lookout for it too. He says it will be waiting for him somewhere, but not for sale! It will just have the keys in it and be "special for Phoenix." Even today, on the million mile drive back to Grams' and Gramps' he occasionally interjects " Mama! Keep a look out for my caw!"