Workin' at the car wash!

For anyone who knows Lincoln, they likely know that he is totally and completely car obsessed. I knew toddlers loved cars / trains / things that move, but his obsession is one born of passion and joy. It's hilarious and terrifying in so many ways. As an example, Lincoln knows where every. single. car. is at all times. This kid doesn't just have 5 cars. He has about 35 (hmm maybe I should count them). They each have a purpose. Some of them are little cars that he can tote around by the handful - these cars tend to not be driven around, but carried from place to place. He also lines them up and lets them watch him do things, like eat or brush his teeth. Then he has his bigger cars. A neighbor gave us about 15 big cars from his son's collection...they're not too big, but they have some weight to them, they're easy to keep track of, and the fun thing about these cars is that they are all models of the old Chevron/Techron cars - remember when they launched that marketing campaign?

I'll tell you, these cars are still popular - they are the ones we bring to the playground and every child casually strolls by to have a look, and then they inch closer and closer to see if they can have a turn. We always have to prep Lincoln when he takes them places where lots of kids will be. That usually goes something like this: "OK Lincoln, there are going to be a lot of kids where we're going and they will want to play with your cars. Will you be ok sharing? Or would you leave them in our car to keep them safe?" And then he says "I want to bring my cars" to which we reply "OK that's great, but we need to know that other kids will want to play with your cars. You don't have to share, but you'll need to tell them that they are yours and you don't want to play" to which he usually says "No! I want to bring my cars" and then we finish with "OK - we hear you, you can bring your cars, it's not a problem. Just know that there will be other kids very interested in your cars." To which he typically replies "Okayyy mommy / daddy." It's all very sweet, and he does a really good job sharing (most of the time) but if we don't prep him for it, he goes bonkers. Anyway - we do have other cars - monster trucks, firetrucks, ambulances - and lots of trains as well. But the Chevron Techron cars are the ones that consistently travel with us, along with a couple small cars that get smuggled into pockets.

Lately, our obsession has grown to washing the cars. He's always liked taking his cars in the bathtub, and has comandeered my mop bucket in the past to wash his cars and spin them dry. The other day though, he set up his own car wash outside with a bucket to wash them in, the mop bucket to spin them dry, a towel to further the drying process, and then he set them up one by one on the paving stones to dry in the sun. It was adorable and "really clever" as his Grandma Milly noted.

Since he set up his own car wash, we figured, hey why not bring him to the real thing. We've done it in the past as a treat here or there, and he would request it from time to time, but we unlocked a whole new level of car obsession with the latest car wash. There's a new one that opened up not too long ago near our house that we drive by every day. It's really cool! It's colors are bright green so it's hard to miss. It has a big section of parking spots with long hoses to suck out all the stuff from your car - and let me tell you, these hoses are STRONG! I'm always worried I'm going to suck up a car key or something like that and never see it again. We'll be sucking things up under the seats and you'll hear the dreaded "thunk" of something with a bit more substance going through the hose...uh oh! Guess we didn't need that?

Once we finish at the super suckers, we go through the car wash which has a wild amount of LED lights that change the colors of the foam and water along with high power pressure washing, lots and lots of rollers and brushes, and crazy powerful air with infrared heat? (I think...maybe its just red LED lights...) at the end. I mean, it's a car wash...but it's new and has some more bells and whistles that I think really just enhance the visual experience of it all. The wash itself is kind of meh - a standard drive through car wash - but the joy on Lincoln's face says it all! So we've been...a lot. At $9/wash, it adds up, HOWEVER, they had a $5 unlimited first month wash which of course I signed us up for. So we've been through the carwash at least 10 times over the last 2 weeks, and each time it goes like this:

1. Stop at the super suckers where Lincoln is taken out of his seat and lends a hand sucking up the trash he intentionally throws on the ground to suck up.

2. Load Lincoln into the front passenger seat where he gets to sit while we go through the car wash. It's on an automated belt, so once you're on, you're in neutral and just along for the ride.

3. Laugh, scream, stare in amazement throughout the entire wash (it's about 2 minutes long...)

4. Wait for the red light to let us go through and do the whole thing one more time.

5. Wash/Rinse/Repeat...literally

6. After the second wash, pull off and park in the parking spots just outside of the exit to watch other cars go through the washing process.

7. Wave and give thumbs ups to all exiting cars.

8. Strongly negotiate the time we leave - (2 minutes? 3 minutes? ONE MORE MINUTE!)

We can literally be there for an hour minimum - it's a great and inexpensive way to pass the time, and I'll tell ya, my car has never been more clean! After this month, the cost goes up to $30/month, but honestly, if he's still interested, I think we'll sign up for the monthly washes. So, if you're ever looking for us, there's a good chance we'll be at the carwash. I'm just waiting for them to give us some carwash swag because at this point, all of the workers know us by sight. They get a real kick out of the joy that this experience brings to Lincoln.