car-ride.

About this whole no-taking-the-bus thing.  I was totally ready to go ahead and let them hop on the bus, especially and mostly because we're pretty sure the stop would be right in front of the house- and that would mean not having to drive the girls to school in the sleepy morning hours.  Given, I'd still have to wake up and get them ready but not leaving the house would be a bonus.  And then they'd have a little more independence, which- sarcastically speaking- every Kindergarten-er needs... but could actually be good for the older one.  Anyway.  Todd is fully opposed, and I am not fully for, so driving them each morning and afternoon is what I do.

And it is actually a great part of our day, all stuck in the car together for ten minutes or so.  Bella has been reading our daily pray-for-our-school prayer card every morning, taking over my duties now that she can read well.  100 days we've been praying that card, well 102.  ...And then the whole kissing them goodbye as they close the door and blowing kisses as they walk away.  Abs running to her line with her wide smile while Bella nervously walking up the path, hoping she won't be late each day.

And the the drive.  So many funny things happen on that drive.  Emma now officially calls broccoli "poop-broccoli" because some days the smell of the broccoli is strong, but other days it's the smell of the water-treatment plant, which smells oddly similar. (Sound yummy?)  And then other days the air smells like onions or cilantro or our favorite- strawberries.  And I love watching the tractors and the workers already busy in the fields.  And sometimes they have fires going to keep them warm.  

And since it has been raining, the usually-stone-dry ground has turned into think, wet, clay-like mud that gives way under the wheels of the trackers and trucks- I don't know what it is about that mud, but I can't get it out of my mind- and each time we pass by that certain area, I just want to stop and take it all in- maybe take my camera and get a picture of it.  It's pretty amazing.  And today the workers were picking there and the tractor's wheels were wet with the mud and sunk into it about 4 or 5 inches.  I am sure the workers don't appreciate it as much as I do- I can't imagine how muddy they must get or how they manage to get anywhere without tracking all that mud with them.

And also today we noticed that in the distance there are snowy hilltops- and not just the one that is always snowy in the winter rain, but there is another one that we've never noticed before.  I think it is amazing that there is snow there, probably only a half hour away.

And since I kidnapped the iPod from Todd, we download fun apps and games on the touch which we play as we wait.  In fact, today as I was pulling out of the garage, I quickly went to the app store before our wireless was out of range.  I waited while it installed, humorously feeling a tiny bit like Jack Bauer waiting for a file to download so he could save the world.  I was instead loading a phonics app for Ab to play on the way home- since the speakers in the car make it real easy for her to play.  When it finished, I said "got it" and took off to the school in a rush, again laughing at the influence of 24 on my everyday life.

I guess I could go on and on about the things we see, the life that happens on our 10-minute school rides.  And I see that I am more than happy to forgo the bus-ride and instead take-and-pick-up-and-pick-up-again each day.  Upon reflection, actually, it is a great and wonderful part of our day!  I wouldn't trade it for any 1/2 hour of luxurious sleeping in.  The end! (Do you wonder what am I even talking about?!  I guess it's just a slice of our minivan life!!)