Car ride conversations

Confine my son to a car for three minutes, and he generally comes up with something pretty funny to say. Put both my kids in a car for a five-hour round trip to their cousin Jessica's birthday party (photo below) and it's a pretty safe bet that the result will be some pretty good blog material:

Early on the way down, Sydney was engrossed, watching a movie on the portable DVD player. AJ was trying to get her attention, and it apparently never crossed his mind that she might be ignoring him because he suddenly blurted out: "Sydney! Snap out of it!"

***

What car ride would be complete without talk of future careers? AJ decided several weeks ago he's going to be president when he grows up. During the drive he further charted the path he will take to the Oval Office. "I'm going to be a firefighter first, and then I'm going to be the president."

"A firefighter?" I questioned? This career option hasn't been on his radar since he was three. It's a good thing Jeff wasn't along to hear it.

"I'm going to be a firefighter first," AJ repeated, "because they're heroes." (Let's just turn that dagger a little deeper in his police officer father's heart.) "So then all the people will love me."

It was about this moment when Sydney must have snapped out of it, because she then inserted her own future plan.

"I'm going to be an actor," she proudly proclaimed.

Had she overheard me describing her as a drama queen and taken it to heart? No.

She continued on, "So I can be Dora."

***

AJ turned to suck up mode a short while later, "I'm looking out the windows at the beautiful, beautiful trees."

This comes in sharp contrast to the last car ride in which I suggested he look at all the pretty colors of leaves. To which he responded, "That means they're dead."