Yesterday we had a little roadtrip up to Landstuhl Medical Center.Dave needed an MRI for an old paratrooper injury that is getting the best of him. No idea on the results, so that is all for much, much later. The army medical system does not move fast. In fact, yesterday was a lot of “hurry up & wait” but since quite a bit of the waiting was for the young guys from far away places, we were more than okay to wait.

Tess and Cole were with our friends back home, but Dane had made the car drive, and the waiting. He was a very good boy.In our house very good boys get treats. He had been promised some new puzzles, he’s in a puzzling phase, but somewhere along the way he also got a quarter for a gumball. As we were finally leaving post, he remembered the quarter and we ran back into to find a gumball machine.

No gumball machine, however, there was a Chiclet-dispensing gum machine. He decided that was okay.I got down & put my hand under the slot, he put the quarter in and gave it a gentle turn, then opened the little door. Yay! A gum! A green gum! Then I told him to spin that quarter some more.

And he heard the waterfall of gum come down the shoot and hit the door. I could see his little body visibly shake with excitement as he tried to choose to keep spinning the quarter, and get even more gum, or stop and take a peek at how much gum he really won. He choose to keep spinning until the quarter was definitely all spun out, then he opened to gate. JACKPOT!

Dane’s little face lit up with the biggest smile and he whooped & hollered & jumped with excitement. He won so much gum it came flooding out into my waiting hand. He was so busy jumping up & down he couldn’t even grab a piece at first.His complete exhilaration at winning all the gum brought a smile to everyones’ face in our proximity.

He finally started picking out pieces from my hand, putting them in his mouth one at a time until I realized he was trying to fit all the pieces in one go. I reminded them he could save some in his pocket for later and his face again lit with excitement. More gum. For later. YES!

Later, during the drive home, Dave and I got some quiet time as Dane slept through the last hours of our day. I kept hearing an odd noise from the back, turning in my seat to see what it was, even going so far as asking Dave to turn on the lights, nothing. At least not at first, but I slowly realized I knew the sound and I twisted in my seat and stared at Dane in the dark, sleeping quietly, sweetly, in his seat. Suddenly, in the bright lights of an oncoming truck, I saw it. Fast asleep, secured in his carseat, his little lips moved up and down, Dane was chewing his jackpot gum.