Little E has a little bit of a rash and had to stay home from daycare… that seems to happen a lot. She was in good humor all day though…
She has been obsessed with “buses” for months. Every time she sees one, she gets excited. She yells “BUS! BUS!”, and then proceeds to sing The Wheels On The Bus repeatedly. Then she asks if she can ride the bus… And we always tell her she can the next time mommy or daddy has the day off.
It was my turn to stay home with Little E, and about mid morning she looked around and asked “Where mommy?”
I replied, “Mommy’s at work”.
Little E thought for a second and said “You no have work?”
“No,” I said. “I have the day off to stay home with you.”
Without hesitation, she looked at me and said “Ride the bus?” with that begging little smile…
She’s only 2, and she’s already learned how to set me up…
We loaded up and drove to the University where I work. They run a free bus service around campus for faculty, students, and staff; which was perfect considering I just dropped $50 at the tackle shop on the way to campus. I figured we would hop on at the Student Union and ride around campus. However, to ride the bus you need a bus pass. I don’t have a clue where mine is. After parking in the garage, we walked to my office to borrow a bus pass from a co-worker. Luckily, we found someone who happily volunteered.
If anyone needed any further proof of how much I love my Little E… you might look close at the pictures. You will notice that I am not wearing a coat. We had an accident on the way to campus that left Little E and I soaked. Yes, there is snow on the ground. Lincoln was a “balmy” 45 degrees today…
Luckily, Little E had a change of cloths in the car… however, I did not have an extra coat…
But we were here… and she had already spotted several buses she wanted to ride on.
Each time a bus passed as we walked down the street, Little E exclaimed “Get on that bus!”. Fearful that we would get on the wrong bus and end up on the outskirts of town, I told her that we needed to “get her a ticket”… which was me stalling to get the bus map. We stopped in the Student Union and got a map to make sure we were about to get on the right bus. Little E thought this was her “ticket” since we had just picked up daddy’s “ticket” at the office.
I handed her the map and for the rest of the day, she hung on to her bus map “ticket”.
After letting a couple of buses go by that were on different routes, eventually Little E’s “special” bus pulled up. And we started singing “The doors on the bus open and shut” as we boarded.
We rode the bus for probably about 6 to 7 minutes around campus. Little E was excited, jittery, and smiling the whole time as the bus bounced and swayed across campus.
“I ride the bus! I ride the bus!”
I thought she would yell and scream when I told her our stop was coming up, but she did not. She just smiled and waived to the driver.
One of the biggest dreams of her young life had come true…
She had just got to ride a bus.
now how darn cute is that! That face is just glowing! This made me smile big time.
Thanks! It was a blast to be sitting next to her! We have a great video of her “bouncing on her hinney!”
Oh my gosh! Those pictures are sooo precious, and you are a wonderful dad. What a great little trip.
Thanks! I know she will be requesting this trip again soon!
What a fun day for you and Little E, I love the pictures, she looks like she’s having the best day ever! You’re an awesome dad!! I had to laugh when you talked about singing “The Wheels on the Bus” song. My husband, not realizing what he was doing, was caught whistling that song while shopping at Pier One Imports one day. He was more than a little embarrassed when he realized why people were smirking at him
. Great post!!
Thanks! Wheels on the bus is a common song that we her in the car… it gets stuck in my head from time to time too! Little E will also sing the Thomas the Train song we she sees a train too… wonder how long it will be before she wants to ride the Amtrak?
Love this! What a lucky little girl! My Little E also loves riding the bus, and usually declares when we have reached our destination, “I want to ride a little bit more!”
Thanks! Did you ever have that much fun on a campus bus? Or for that matter, ride the bus from the Union to Henzlik?
Great story. Great photos.
Thanks! Now she has been begging mommy to take her on the bus!
This is so freaking cute!! She’s so cute! You’re awesome dad!! I wish I had memories like these…so glad you’re creating these for her
I am trying! I don’t have a lot of good memories from when I was her age, so it is definitely important for me that she does!
Same here
So glad you’re doing what you’re doing!! 