>We bought a small school bus ($1) for our son and it becomes his favorite toy for now :)

We had dozens of those little "Matchbox" cars - the kids always had one in their hands.

Mine really liked the Fisher Price things with the "Wee People" and later the "Husky Helpers." There was a dump truck with two workers and a shovel and a rake that my #1 really loved.

We also got tons of stuff at yard sales. I mean TONS! We had laundry baskets in each room so it was easy to pick the toys up quickly.

As they got older, I had some giant (2 ft tall) coloring books and an ice cream bucket with crayons. Those went to the doctor's office with us. It was easy to wait with the special coloring book.