Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Vehicle Zoo


Living in the city has certain advantages. One being that if you have a 2-year-old who reads a lot of books featuring interesting vehicles, there are ample opportunities to see them in action.

This morning, my city was happy to oblige.

The excitement began with a garbage truck loudly rumbling down our street right before we loaded up to go to daycare. I could tell it was also going to be a fun commute once we turned left onto the main road near our home right between an ambulance and a fire truck. Lukas' grin went from big to off the charts when the fire truck pulled up beside us at at stoplight and he caught the attention of a fireman who looked surprisingly like a tired Vin Diesel.

As Vin the fireman looked over at us and saw a tiny hand waving emphatically at him, he brightened noticeably and waved back, flashing his own rather large grin. As we pulled away, Lukas inquired "More Fire Twuck?", but his attention was quickly diverted as we pulled up next to another large truck. "Look daddy!" he cried as he pointed at a older model large pickup with high sides plunking along. "See that lettering? It says it's a "Junk Truck" I replied as the tune from Sanford and Son started up in the back of my mind.

From there our driving tour of the vehicle zoo continued on as we passed several large city buses, a cement truck, and a dump truck. We then crossed over a large bridge and I pointed out tug boats, barges, and container ships. Next it was onward past train cars, loading cranes, and forklifts. However, we didn't have time to focus on those for very long, as off to our left we spied a couple of ferry boats right before we entered the city, where we also passed several yellow and orange taxi cabs. Moving on, we passed through a couple of construction zones, where we saw diggers filling up dump trucks, backhoes, and more cranes along with plenty of construction workers in bright orange neon and hard hats.

If you have ever had a two year old boy, you know well the level of excitement these vehicles can create. It's a joyful thing to witness.

However, besides the early encounter with the fire truck, the most excitement on our morning tour of the vehicle zoo was reserved for the very last odd but interesting vehicle we encountered before arriving at our destination. "What's Dat?!" came the enthusiastic inquiry.

"That? Well, that's a Honey Bucket truck son." was my reply. "It sucks poopy out of portable potties." Mrs. LIAYF added.

Lukas let out an "Uhhhh Huhhh!" and as it passed out of sight, "More Hummy Bumkit?" "All gone buddy. Maybe we will see it again later." I offered in reply.

Sometimes, as with the real zoo, it's the strangest exhibits which attract the most attention. Lukas may want to see it again, but personally the Honey Bucket sucker truck is one vehicle I could do without seeing again for a while.
-
At least not first thing in the morning.

18 comments:

Eric said...

A tired Vin Diesel! LOL!

DCUrbanDad said...

We live in front of a nursing home and are treated to our fair share of fire twucks and ambulances. City living is grand, ain't it.

Being us... said...

I am with you on the vehicles, but I have to say that my little guy goes GAGA over BUGS!!!! EEWWWW!

Krystal said...

Now that is so totally cool!!! The trucks, not the potty pooper sucker...yeah, my boys would go nuts over the trucks too...but if they see a train (as they tend to do when we drive along the highways)....they go ape-shit over them!! I mean squeals and screeches galore!!! Glad you had a good morning - until the end there - just nasty in the AM.

PJ Mullen said...

We are currently inundated with trains in my household, but I'm looking forward to my little man being interested in all the fun vehicles around town.

Anonymous said...

That is a cool fire truck...I guess it has to be hard to manuever those crowded streets in one of those things.

Ron said...

This is one of the many reasons I love living in the city. We used to see this same stuff and the littlest one LOVES trucks... of course at the moment, we see a lot of police cars in the parking lot. ;-)

SciFi Dad said...

It's something about boys... my son is barely ten months old, and he hoots and hollers whenever he sees large trucks on the road.

Lady Mama said...

"Hummy Bumkit"! I love that. Sounds exactly like something my son would say. We too have lots of fun driving around, doesn't matter where. Matthew likes to point out everything on the way. "Wuck", is his word for truck. I hear it a lot!

Captain Dumbass said...

We live near an ambulance depot and a fire station, good times. Not as cool as having to drive past the airport though.

Whit said...

Yeah, that's one truck I can do without regardless of the time.

Surfer Jay said...

you could just very well have sparked his interest in aspiring to be a Honey Bucket truck driver. WHy do the firemen get all the glory anyway...

If I Could Escape . . . said...

We call it the poopy truck in this house! What can I say -- I'm a mum with three boys!

Idaho Dad said...

James, could you email me? phil AT pkmeco DOT com

I don't have your address and need to ask you something about Uptake.

Super Mega Dad said...

It ain't just boys Sci-Fi Dad! My little princess is in love with every trash truck, firetruck, and school bus she can lay her eyes on. She is facinated with trucks for some reason. Maybe it's the big burly men that drive them? I think I'm going to go lock her in her room now. ;)

Delainie said...

That's great! How fun! My son loves dumpters, of all things he could like. lol He knows what color dumpster and trash service every place in town has.

I didn't know those were called Honey Buckets. I'm glad we haven't seen one, I'm sure I'd have only known to call it a Poop Sucker Truck. And those would be sure to be words he'd never forget!

Brad Miller said...

One of the reason why we live in the city is that my little boy loves to watch these bucket trucks passing by in front of our house. He even ask us if he can have this crane trucks toys as additional to his collections.

Anonymous said...

Some dad's are just having some time playing toy's that like bucket trucks with their sons.