Out with the Boys

I had a wonderful day yesterday.  My husband was taking my son to the Montreal Auto Show, and I decided to tag along.  It was so nice to spend an entire afternoon alone with my boys; to see the twinkle in their eyes as they looked at all those cars! For me, a car is a mode of transportation.  It gets me from point A to point B in comfort and safety.  For boys, a car is so much more...

We started on the top floor.  The display was entitled "7th Heaven" and consisted of all the cars that we couldn't sit in or even touch: Lotuses, Ferraris, Maserattis, Lamborginis... My husband took dozens of pictures from all possible angles.  My son asked questions on price and craftsmanship.  I just watched and enjoyed.  When a car costs more that my house, it's way out of my league!

The next display consisted of all terrain vehicles.  My son got to climb onto 3-wheel motorcycles, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers - he was all smiles.  Then we got to displays for regular cars, more affordable cars.  They had cars from every make: Ford, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Honda, GM... you name it, they had it!  It was a beautiful sight, I must admit.  All the cars were sparkling clean and most were unlocked and available to try sitting in and explore. 

My minivan is as 11 years old, as old as Nicholas, and although he gets better and stronger with age, my car has seen much better days.  I've been contemplating replacing it by a cross-over, and it was great to be able to see all of the different vehicles available.  We spent about 5 hours walking around and checking out cars; the time just flew by.  Rudy and I checked out the driver/passenger area and Nicholas climbed into the back seats, testing out how easy it was to climb in and out, how much leg room there was in all the spots, how well we could see the DVD display (he is hoping we pick that option!).  We all checked out the cargo space and whether or not rooftop racks were available.  We took lots of notes and came out of there with a much better idea of which car we might want to get in the spring. 

We left from there around 6:30 and drove back home, picking up take-out on the way to share with our girls at home (there was no way I was going to cook dinner at 7:00 after spending the last several hours walking - I was pooped!).

It was a great day out with the boys!

Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi, Regular Columnist, All in a Mom-day's Work, works from home as a training material manager and developer for a Montreal-based engineering firm.  Find out more at www.luciebouchardantoniazzi.com