Things to do before you grow up

Riding in the car with AJ, there's just never a dull moment. Any random thought that pops into his head immediately comes popping out of his mouth.

Last night, in the midst of telling me that someday he was going to be the dad and Sydney was going to be the mom, and I was going to be the baby in Sydney's tummy, and Daddy was going to be the little boy, he suddenly switched gears to a new topic.

"Next time, we can go to Grandma Elouise's, and we can go to Chuck E. Cheese's. And I can see the REAL Chuck E. Cheese, and I'm going to give him a high five! And then I'll grow up. Would that be a good idea?"

During our trip to the Twin Cities last weekend, we had dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's. AJ saw someone in a mascot costume, but the person was posing for a photo with another child at the time, so I held AJ back. AJ quickly got distracted playing another game, and by the time we looked back, the giant mascot was gone. He had to settle instead for the pretend mouse.

Clearly, the missed opportunity is still weighing on his mind.