loveSaturday: Hot Wheels

Bri turned 16 almost 2 months ago. Ever since then it's been all about wanting a car. I thought it was just boys that ogled cars when driving down the road, but nope. It's girls too. And the fact that she works at her Stepdad's carwash gives her lots of opportunities to crawl in and out of cars while vacuuming them.

So on Monday her Mom and Mr. Gene went shopping and found a beauty! And Bri had no clue. All week I kept laughing to myself every time she talked about wanting a car and on Wednesday she said that she thought her dad was finally giving in. Hahahha. Little did she know.

Today was Family Day at Southeastern, so the girls we're going to go with their Mom and Mr. Gene to spend the day with Rachel at her school. It worked out perfect because the girls were with us and they were able to drive the car over to our house to pick them up. They parked it on the lawn and we all (with the exception of Bri) went out there and her Mom called her up and said they were here. But she looked out the door, didn't see the car in the driveway and didn't come outside! Blaire had to go get her and she finally came out. We parked Duane's truck where I normally park so she wouldn't be able to see it right away. We had to get that first look of shock on her face when she saw that gigantic bow!

And we got that shot.

The smile started small and just kept getting bigger and bigger.

It was really fun to watch and she kept saying "I'm so happy" over and over.

The car is fantastic. It's a '98 Toyota Camry and it's in really good condition. And super clean too! Mr. Gene really knows a thing or two about washing cars :)

And look how perfect her toes match that bow!

The smile never left her face. Lois told her to go for a spin around the block with us, so me, Duane and Blaire got in and buckled up!

Here she is driving us for the first time in her very own car. She stopped at every stop sign, too. Nothing compared to the first time I drove with her!!

Then it was Duane's turn to drive the car. I asked Bri if she was happy and here she is saying "I'm sooooo Happpy!!"

Then came the phone call to BFF Sarah. And this was the cutest thing ever! We could hear Sarah screaming over the phone. I couldn't tell who was more excited!! Now they both have cars :)

Then they packed up the trunk and got ready to hit the road. Bri was driving them all to Southeastern University and it was going to be Rachel's turn to scream with Bri.

She realized at this point that she didn't have a real license plate yet and then I got all excited, because I have this thing about cool license plate numbers. Yeah, I'm a dork. But I'm not talking about vanity plates, just random licence plate numbers that are given out. Like mine is ORR 888. And I think that's cool. And when Duane was waiting for his license plate to come for his truck I kept hoping he would get a good one. And he did. X310320. And you could tell that the gears in Bri's head started turning and she was thinking about what random number she would get. And then she said.... I could get BRI! It was pretty funny and yep baby, you could. I'll keep my fingers crossed that yours will be BRI 712 :)

Waving byee :) Hmmm. On second thought, I'm not sure I like this whole car idea. I'm going to start worrying every time I see this happen. Backing out of the driveway. Driving away.

But it's her dream. And you can't keep them locked in the house forever, right? And we believe in her. And we trust her judgement. She's got a good head on her shoulders. And she knows there will be NO TEXTING while driving. And NO TALKING ON THE PHONE while driving. And she's always going to CALL AND TELL US WHERE SHE IS. But not while driving :) And she's always going to watch her gas gauge and learn how to change a tire. And lock the doors as soon as she gets in. And not get out of the car if she notices someone shady outside. And never unroll her window if someone she doesn't know knocks on it. She won't tailgate, she won't drive over the speed limit and she'll be a slow turner :) No matter how much I complain about slow turners.

She doesn't have her license, but she's got her car. And she's about to get a lot of practice in it.