LeMay Car Museum

Eric turned 30 during our trip, the day before he returned home. Pops and Lela planned a fun surprise for him. Mamaw didn't care to go so she offered to stay home with Peabody. We met up with B&D and traded the Boogie for JL -- the girl cousins had a fun-filled weekend, and JL came with us to the LeMay Car Museum in Tacoma. That really worked out well. The girls probably would have been bored to death in a car museum, but three-year-old JL LOVED every minute. He was a ball of energy, running from one car to the next. He would spot one far down the line and race to it, then proclaim, "I knew it! I knew it was a Cadillac!" And ... he'd be right! Amazing.

 

The museum is four floors of all different makes and models of beautiful, mostly classic, cars and trucks.There were a few motorcycles as well.

So tiny!

The boiler of a steam-powered car

 

On one floor there were some simulators, and part of Eric's gift from Pops and Lela was to drive one. It was really neat. It made me dizzy to watch.

Then he helped JL run a slot car, though once JL got the hang of it he really didn't need any help. He was so cute, watching intently.

Many of the vehicles had a placard with some kind of description. My favorite was this notice on the floor in front of one:

It took me a moment to realize it was double-talk and not actually German!

We walked all over the museum for at least a couple of hours.On the way home JL was very talkative -- if you know my brother, you will understand when I say that JL is like a little carbon copy of his dad.

 

I had brought some things to entertain him in the car, and he talked and talked and talked ... and then, just like that, he conked out.

It's a bit of a drive from Pops and Lela's house down to Tacoma. They are used to that, as most anywhere they go beyond their local town is at least thirty minutes from their house. Lela brought something to occupy herself, too.

I had ordered a new flat-screen tv and had it delivered to a store back home, and Mom made up a card for me to give to Eric that evening. He was SO surprised! He was chuckling at the card and when he realized just exactly what it was saying, his jaw literally dropped. It was a great reaction.

Mamaw made him her famous cheesecake (of which I'm pretty sure I ended up eating half over the next few days) and we very quietly sang happy birthday to him since Peabody and JL were sleeping. I think it was a successful celebration of him entering the next decade!