Rock Collecting

Yesterday was a thrilling day in our household. We didn't go anywhere, but it turns out that traveling to a playground wasn't necessary. VDOT rolled out a new road in our development, causing boundless excitement from my little guy.  

We spent our afternoon watching spreaders, rollers and "ginormous and smelly" asphalt trucks working in tandem on our road. Timmy was delighted with the "road show" and happily waved at any and all workers who glanced his way. They were all so kind, delighting my little guy by waving and beeping their horns when driving past us.  

When the road was complete, Timmy decided to be "helpful" by picking up small pieces of asphalt that had been flung to the side. With his strawberry basket in hand, we set out down the newly laid road, carefully selecting and picking up small rocks and asphalt chunks. As I could have predicted, his bucket quickly became too heavy for him to carry and the task was transferred to me.  

Timmy could have spent hours picking up the pieces, but I insisted we stop when the basket was full. (I frustrated him when I refused to allow fresh asphalt to be put into his pockets.) Only after I promised that we could return today to continue and reminded him that we needed to let some road for others to pick up did he finally agreed to return home. Hopefully the smell will dissipate before we continue with our mission this afternoon!