The Big One

With the prospect of finally having another driver in the house, Mark had been on the lookout for a kids' car for a while.  He has connections with a guy who buys cars at auction and last week we got a great deal on a cute little 2012 VW Jetta.  

Mark really wanted to surprise Emily with the new car on her birthday.  The only problem was that the auction was in Florida and we had to wait until Monday for the car to be brought up to Montgomery where we could pick it up.  Monday was also Emily's birthday and, since she had no idea she was getting a car, she wanted to be taken to the DMV first thing Monday morning to get her license.  We didn't have time to spend the morning at the DMV and make it to Montgomery so we had to do a little stretching of the truth and tell Emily we were too busy on Monday to get her license but that we would go with her first thing on Wednesday (the DMV was closed Tuesday for Veteran's Day).  Emily was disappointed, but took it very maturely.  She wasn't disappointed for long though.  

Monday afternoon, Mark and I drove the new car to the high school parking lot where we usually pick up Brandon and Emily after school.  We hid in the back seat and waited for them to come out.  When they couldn't find our car, they called us wondering where we were.  Mark lead them all over the parking lot until they finally saw us.  Here is Emily's reaction when she finally figures it out (sorry about the fuzzy filming--I was trying to covertly film out the window without being seen):

I don't think she stopped smiling for the rest of the day.  After the big reveal, Emily had a couple of friends come over and stay the night to celebrate with her.  On Wednesday, we went down to the DMV and got her license.  Thursday we got all the title and all the insurance settled (Holy cow! Insuring teens is expensive!) and Friday she finally got to drive herself and Brandon to school.  It's the beginning of a new era in the Petrucka house.