Who knew parking in the garage could be so cool....

I think since we've owned a house with a garage, and maybe even before that when we lived in a duplex, we've had a goal of parking in the garage. I don't know why this is so challenging for us. For one, I think we keep buying houses that have the smallest garages on the block. This was of course a discussion point when buying this house, but I decided that not having a larger garage was negotiable for other things. I've since even looked into how to expand the garage ( not possible without looking like a hodgepodge house- I could explain this in an additional way, but I'm afraid I'll offend someone)- so we're kind of stuck. Even with nothing in the garage, we couldn't fit 2 cars in- unless they were SmartCars or MiniCoopers ( which I've thought about as well- if I didn't have to haul around 2 kids). I have a friend that seriously has a VERY LARGE 3 car garage. The ceiling is soo high that you can suspend those garage racks that hook to the ceiling for even more storage, and you could seriously walk around each vehicle to get to the door- In my garage you have to suck in your stomach just to sneak past once you shut the door.
When my neighbors leave their garage doors open and I can look inside, I seriously COVET their garage size. We "supposedly" have the equivalent of a 2.5 car garage- but the configuration of the water heater and door make it impossible to park 2 cars- plus its not wide enough. Then, add in the shelves of food storage and other kinds of paraphenalia, and we're parking outside the garage most of the year. I dug in the other night and seriously worked on clearing things out for a good couple of hours. ( I also had to sweep up any possible sign of the mice.. which made my skin crawl). I got things looking great, and actually pulled in the garage that night.
The next morning, Grant goes out through the garage to get to the car, and starts shouting "MOM!!! THE CAR IS IN THE GARAGE! ISN'T THAT SOOO COOL" (like the car magically appeared there).
Yesterday evening, after we got home, Grant was insistent that I put the car in the garage. He kept saying "MOM, PUT THE CAR IN THE GARAGE- HURRY!"- like if the car doesn't get back in the garage, the opportunity will end.
Today, again, the car was there in the garage. The same excitement occurs again with shouts like "Hurry Grace, get in the car!" " The car is inside the garage Grace! Isn't that awesome!".
Who knew that this simple change could be such an anomoly for my children...

When I got home this morning, I decided I would make a parking stop with a tennis ball hung from the ceiling. I tried everything, but I have no idea how people make a hole in a tennis ball, the things just bounces or bends to any pressure. I started with a razor blade, a screwdriver, scissors, a knife, and finally pulled out Ryan's drill. None of these worked. Luckily I then spied a wiffle ball with holes, so I was able to feed a string through, then I climbed ontop of the car ( since it was already in the garage) and hammered a hook into the garage ceiling while standing on the hood of the car. Luckily I didn't break my neck....