Carin and I are reading the Five Love Languages book. We were talking last night that Taylor's love language is most definitely "Quality Time". Taylor is such a good little girl and has really become a great help to us as parents. Sometimes she has to take the back seat for a while as we take care of the boys. I forget sometimes that this brilliant girl is only 3. She converses and reasons with you like an 8 year old. Many times we catch ourselves overlooking her needs for quality time even though she pleads, Will you play with me now?" She asked Carin last night, "Mommy, when I am older, much older, and I am getting married in the temple, can I wear your wedding dress you wore when you got married to daddy please?"
So last night, Carin and I decided that because I had today off, that I should spend the day with Taylor and give her some much needed, and well deserved quality time. I told her this morning that we were going on a Daddy-Taylor date. She got super excited. She got her hair all done and was dressed long before I was. We boarded the Front Runner in Ogden and took off for Salt Lake. As the train started moving, the look was priceless. She's never been on a real train before and you'd have thought she was in the space shuttle. The whole ride down was filled with questions about who drives the train, how he drives the train, how the tracks work, where we were, how long until the next stop, will there be more people at the next stop, what happens when it snows on the tracks, etc etc. She was simply fascinated with the whole experience.
We got off at the Gateway and started looking for a place to eat. We decided on McGrath's Fishhouse. She was sold when she saw the live Lobsters. She immediately named them and told me the one climbing on top of the mommy one was the "daddy lobster". Don't ask how she figured that out! She knew she wanted a cheeseburger. She ordered warm water and a side of ranch with her cheeseburger. The waiter just chuckled. She devoured a loaf of sourdough bread before her meal even came. We visited the restroom a few times while we were there. As we were washing her hands she said, "You know something Daddy, this is a nice bathroom! I thought for a minute that it was a magic bathroom!" I asked her what a magic bathroom was. She said," Well, you see, sometimes you go to the bathroom and when you're done, you stand up and the toilet flushes all by itself! And the faucets and the towels!" She wasn't at all disappointed that it wasn't a magic bathroom, just surprised that one so nice wasn't magic.
I don't think Taylor stepped on a crack all day. She constantly leaped and skipped over the cracks all around the Gateway. She was awed by the "spitting floor" at the Gateway. She experienced an escalator, which she thought was fantastic and we may or may not have played on them a little more than was necessary and we had fun. We went to the Planetarium and had a good time there. She looked up at me and said, "Daddy, we had better get back on the train to go somewhere." I asked her why and she said,"Well, here's the thing, you see, I haven't had a quiet time today and I probably better have one." I told her she didn't need to have a quiet time but realized that this was Taylor's polite little way of telling her daddy that she was beat and needed to rest. So we headed back to the station. Again, the questions flowed. She figured out that on the way down, the engine of the train was in the back. She said, "Were we in reverse the whole way down?" I told her no but she insisted that we had to get out and go inspect the engine and see where the conductor sat. So we did and she got to meet the guy that drives the train and he explained the whole thing to her which she accepted, as it came from the conductor himself.
She crashed for most of the way home and insisted that I tickle her back while she rested. I gladly indulged her.
Once back in Ogden, I told her we would go climb on some trains at the Union Station. This was the highlight of her day. The pictures I posted here are shear and utter excitement. No posing her or telling her to smile, just plain old jump-out-of-your-pants excitement. It brought me much joy.
While climbing on the last train, we realized she had lost her little teddy bear that Carin had crocheted for her for Valentines Day. She adored the thing, ate with it, slept with it and carried it with her. Her little eyes filled up with tears and she came over and hugged my neck like she's just seen her dog die. I felt so bad. I told her that we would figure something out and that maybe mommy could make her a new one. In between her sobs she said, "Well, I guess we'd better call mommy." So I handed Taylor the phone as it was ringing and she broke down into tears about the Teddy Bear. I told her to wait for Carin to pick up before she talked. Carin picked up and asked Taylor how she was doing and where we were. Before crying about her bear, the sweet little girl answered her mom's questions and said, "I'm having lots of fun. We are just coming home from Salt Lake and I will be home after I climb on this last train......but mom, guess what? I lost my bear you made me....will you make me another one please?" She got off the phone and said, "Mommy's going to make me another one just like it tonight while I am sleeping!" And the party continued.
Taylor and I rode in my truck home and told stories and asked each other the same knock-knock joke 10 times each and laughed our heads off every time. Taylor's was Knock Knock...who's there...Taylor....Taylor who.....Taylor Dawn Chugg silly goose! After a bad daddy attempt at an "Orange you glad I didn't say banana" knock-knock joke, Taylor asked if her new name could be Orange Glatitude. I agreed. It would be a great name for someone like Taylor. She has a great little attitude and is just glad to be here. I am so grateful for the good girl that she is and thank God everyday that I get to be her daddy. We got home tonight and got dressed in her princess clothes and came out to ask me if I would like to dance-explaining that she is the princess and I would be her prince. Getting worried today, I explained to her that boys are not to be kissed until she's married. She said, "Oh daddy, don't worry you're the only boy I kiss ....and my boys of course (pointing to her brothers)."
Below, the conversation that ensued after passing some farm animals on the train. Pardon the nose picking....but it was part of the conversation.
