sorry, lot is full

The other weekend, Overboard and I decided that Kenny needed a new toy or two. It wasn't that he was tired of the ones he had...we were. I mean, we can only play with the same train, car, farm and set of blocks 6,872 times before it gets a little repetitive. Kenny can apparently do this for at least two or three times that amount. However, we're the ones with the buying power, so we're the ones who say when it's time to go to Toys R Us...or Target, as the case may be (when the selection at Toys R Us is just weak...c'mon, local outlet of the big toy corporation, get on your game, it's just sad).

After turning our noses up at a number of toy possibilities, Overboard and I spotted a winner with the Little People Parking Garage, that dovetails nicely with his Little People Farm set. See, Little People need to be able to move from the city to the farm and back again. It just makes them more well-rounded individuals. Plus, this parking garage combines some of Kenny's favorite things: cars and ramps for cars to go down. Throw in a nifty elevator and this set is "Gold, Jerry! Gold!"

Our paternal toy-purchasing instincts proved to be pretty good when we got home and Kenny grew upset at the fact that there was a minimal amount of "assembly required." While I tried to snap and bolt together the various pieces, Kenny tried to play with them. After some creative finagling, Kenny was able to play with his new garage, as were we. Of course, like rookies, we did this right before dinner, so there was a lot of intense negotiations when it came time to go upstairs and eat. Eventually, I just had to forcibly remove Kenny from the scene, which was met with the appropriate amount of screams, tears and eventually, waves of "bye bye" to the toys.

The next morning, Kenny and I came down to the kitchen to grab his morning sippy cup of milk, when he noticed the empty box by the counter. He pulled back the top, peered inside and shot me a look of consternation over the lack of a parking garage playset inside. Before I could say anything, Kenny made the proper sign with his fingers and asked plaintively, "more? more?" This was heartbreaking, but pretty damn funny. He was not as amused, but was thankfully distracted by the introduction of the aforementioned sippy cup of milk.

Now, we try to let him play with his garage downstairs, in the living room, and in his room as well. When it's time for the garage to close down, we attempt to make a smooth transition by waving "bye bye" and instructing everyone and everything that we are "all done."

I've rambled quite a bit, so I won't even go into the fact that the driver of the car in the playset has his cell phone out and is oblivious to the local ordinances against talking on your phone will driving. Little People, big egos, I'm tellin' ya.