I'm driving today to Pennsylvania to spend the night with Ethan and then we are driving down together to Washington, DC for Sara's graduation. The rest of the family is flying in at various times but we will all be in the front row at 10:00 on Sunday.
After the last picture has been snapped, Molly and Sara will pack their dorm rooms into my car and we'll drive back to Maine.
We've done this drive many times since Sara's freshman year and it was nice to add Molly to the mix when she started college last Fall.
As we drive, we play a game called "Yellow Car". I think Sara made it up, but maybe it's a game n
ormal people play, too. It involves shouting "YELLOW CAR" any time we see one--it offers various opportunities to argue about the different shades of yellow and whether a car might actually be green or orange--it also offers the opportunity to argue about whether a yellow Hummer or cadilac should be worth extra points (yes). Obviously, utility vehicles, school buses and taxi cabs don't count. There are more yellow cars than there used to be, so the game isn't quite as much fun but I'm sure we'll play it one last time as we drive back from graduation. Maybe Molly and I will come up with a new game for our future drives.
Here's a link to an article in the local paper about Sara's opportunity to give the student commencement speech.
So, Rach just a warning, I will be adding to the yawning silence of the River Valley Blogging Community for a few days. But a P.S., to the River Valley Blogging Community--the teenager has a school commitment and can't go with us so he will be home alone--if you drive by and the house is rockin', people hanging out of the windows, cars parked on my flower beds--well you get the picture--stop in and do the "It takes a village" thing. Thanks!
12 comments:
What a monumental event in Sara's life. So glad everyone will be there to cheer her across the stage. I know your heart will be swelled with pride Beth. Be safe on your journey. Can't wait to hear all about it. :c)
One day your wallet will once again swell with pride and just when you think it's safe to splurge, along come the grandkids. Great memory pics. Tell them all I said hello.
Oh, if only the people in the other cars knew to play a game where they try to spot the recent proud graduates and yell "Congratulations!!" out the window :)
We'll just have to do it from our computers.
This is wonderful for you all.
"I think Sara made it up, but maybe it's a game normal people play, too."
-this is too funny. What's normal anyway? :)
YELLOW CAR! Do I get extra points because the Mustang is a mussle car?
Congradulations to Sara too!
Have a safe trip.
Beth, you have to have a sense of humor, a brave soul, and a village to leave a teenager alone! Have a safe trip!
Jayne, Thanks for the kind words--safely made it to State College, PA.
Texican, I will pass on the hellos to the family, for sure.
The Elementary, I read somewhere that the only normal people are the ones we don't know very well!
Louis, you have a yellow mustang? That's definitely bonus points.
Kathie, you are beautiful! Glad you put up your picture.
My first car was yellow...inherited from my mother who had to drive an hour to work each day. She thought it might help trucks see her better.
Also, she tells me of a similar game she played with her sisters, only they were looking for white horses or donkeys (this was a LONG time ago). Supposedly the next guy you saw after you saw the horse/donkey would be your future husband!
1) So cool that you're down there for such a momentous occasion...Sara's address is an amazing honor.
2) Sorry to have been a part of the "yawning silence", as you so aptly put it. I've addressed that on my page (http://alwayssomeonecooler.blogspot.com/)
3) My first car was a dandelion yellow Volkswagen rabbit with no radio, but five speeds. That was a great car...it's highly unlikely, but just barely possible, that my car was part of your game at one point (if Sara started playing it when she was 2...)
It's fun to read about other "car games" that other people invent and play. When I was younger, my sisters and I had several games we'd play in the car on longer trips. Of course there's always the "punchbuggy" spotting. But our other primarily car-related game involved each of us choosing a tractor-trailer we'd see regularly on the roads, and keeping tally as we drove. One of us had Labatt (the brewery), one of us had Ryder (the moving company), and I forget what the last one was now. Of course the person who saw the most of their own truck by the end of the trip was the winner.
That's fantastic! You should be very poud.
I'm liking the idea of Yellow Car. The Prof and I drive to Vermont and Boston twice a year and that might make the trip a bit more fun when there is a lull in the conversation
Congratulations, Beth! I know you are deservedly proud!
We play 'yellow car', but it's called 'BANANA'. It comes with a scream and a punch on the shoulder.
We also play 'punchbuggy', but that's not nearly as fun. The newest one is 'Cruiser-Bruiser', which (duh) also comes with a punch in the shoulder.
My family is too violent, I think. But we stay connected.
I counted blue cars as a kid on the way from Bangor to Binghampton, NY. Imagine my shock and jubilation when that became the line in a song I could sing on the radio while counting the blue cars...
Alphabet cames are the go to time killer in our van.
No cars on the lawn or shattered windows seen back at home...
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