Smith Reunion

We left last Wednesday morning for the Smith Family Reunion in Oregon and Washington. We had a lot of fun!

We spent 2 nights at cabins at Emigrant Springs in Oregon. They were very basic, but they were clean and comfortable. The cousins had a lovely time running around in the woods and picking as many huckleberries as they could eat!

Buster "playing tennis" with his uncles

On Friday, we drove a little more to stay 2 nights at my brother's house in Kennewick, Washington. We spent one afternoon at an aquatic center and the next at a small lake/pond that's part of the Columbia River.

Ben and Buster at the Hermiston Aquatic Center

Kandy and Buster at the pond

Missy

Sunny found tons of tiny shells!

Because of our car troubles, we rented a minivan for the trip. It was nice to have automatic sliding doors and stowing space! I'm amazed how much stuff we fit into that van. Upon arriving home, we unloaded the van as fast as possible to return it to the rental location. Ben turned on our blue van to follow me there. The starter did start, but it kept going! It burned up (the motor--not the van). We were planning on getting rid of it anyway. It was kind of annoying, but more of an "oh, well" experience. The most annoying part is that rather than having a less-than-perfect car for a couple of weeks while finding a new car, we have no family car while looking.

Fathers and Sons

Friday was the Fathers and Sons outing. Ben was thrilled to have his own son to take this year, as he has often taken boys who otherwise wouldn't go with their own fathers. He and Buster had a lot of fun.

Quotable Quotes XIV

In the car:
Sunny: Kandy, I just saw a mosquito, and it was a girl one!
Kandy: How do you know?
Sunny: Because I saw eyelashes!

Car Trouble

Just how do you know when to give up on a car? An eternal question that we will never have a solid answer to, of course. Our van is a 2001, and it has over 100,000 miles on it. It ran great for 2 years. In April, we had it in the shop twice. Both repairs totalled to over $1,000--while we were remodeling our house, no less!

Lately, the van has been stalling when we hit a bump while turning left with a foot off the accelerator. Talk about weird! The check engine light comes on sometimes, and then it goes off again. It was diagnosed with a misfire last time we had it fixed, and it still has that hesitation. It hesitates over bumps quite often, but it stalls completely only when going left.

Today we took it to our usual mechanic. They pulled the codes from the computer, which made no sense whatsoever. The temperatures varied wildly, but the weirdest was -198 degrees Fahrenheit in the engine!!! Our mechanic said we had to take it to the dealer. On the bright side, they didn't charge us since they couldn't fix it.

During Ben's lunch, a neighbor came to stay with the kids while we dashed to our mechanic and took the van to the dealership. The first thing they said? "So, can you be without a car for a couple of days?" Do we have a choice? Well, we could go on driving as we have been, but we do have plans for some trips later this month. It has to be fixed (or given up on) sometime. Might as well be now.

Ah, the joys of cars. So every day since this has been getting worse we keep asking ourselves if it's worth shelling out money every month or two to fix this car or if we just give up and decide to have a car payment instead. Aaaargh!

Ultrasound

Today was my ultrasound. Until the last minute, I was vacillating about whether to find out the gender or not. The children were a split vote, and Ben was rather ambivalent. Unfortunately, he had to teach today, so I was all alone. When they asked if I wanted to find out, I put off answering by saying how unsure I was. The technician continued the ultrasound. I finally requested one of the options Ben and I had discussed: I asked them to find out without telling me and write it in my file. That way, if I ever changed my mind before delivery, I could ask. The technician finished and gave me my DVD, saying the doctor would come in just a minute. He would do a couple last-minute things, including determine the gender.

The doctor came in and sat down. In a very business-like manner, he began using the machine. After just a minute or two, he told me that the baby was being uncooperative. So after all that worry, stress, anxiety, and so forth, it ended up being a moot point--the decision was made for me. So, boy or girl? It's anybody's guess. I don't have any feelings on the subject!

I'm happy with the outcome of the day, though. Now I didn't find out, but it's not that I didn't try. I couldn't have planned it better.