Well, we are about ready to leave.  We have gotten the air conditioning fixed in the car.  Dwight called and said it was a crimped pipe in the AC, and no amount of coolant would have made it run right for our trip, so we were happy to pay to have it done correctly.  Today was the last of the car errands, when I had to go to the dealership and have them program a new key fob for us.  The car only came with one, so it was up to us to get a second.  We are all set!!

With our big Michigan trip coming right up, we gave the girls the opportunity to earn money, first to earn enough for floaties of their choice, then to earn spending money for souvenirs.  This took a bit longer than we had hoped, as there was much complaining and balking.  With so little time left, though, they got to it.  They finally had all earned enough to order their chosen floaties, and they came today, so it was off to the pool with them!  Leiden's is this enormous peacock raft that other kids kept trying to over turn and get up on with her.

Mac chose a stingray, much more economical and easy to manage in the water!

Little Meemer of course chose a unicorn floatie.

The trouble with Mimi's is that it has a very difficult time staying upright!  She fell off numerous times, and may be regretting this particular unicorn's design.

But they are thrilled with them and are so excited to use them in Lake Michigan!

Leiden made a splash today, literally!  She decided to try one of the high dives.  She has been uninterested in trying before today, and we finally convinced her she should at least try it before she decides she doesn't like it.  Then she'll know!

I'm so proud of her for jumping off, but she did not like it and I don't blame her!  I don't like it either!

We had Thomas today, and I simply didn't feel up to taking them all to the pool, as I'd have to be in the water with Thomas and he can be wily.  So we did the next best thing to stay cool and headed to the splash pad!  They are, admittedly, probably more fun for younger kids...Thomas had a blast, but the girls were good sports to help watch him and keep him out of trouble!

Happy Pioneer Day!

We had invited my family over for dinner, and Tara sent this photo this afternoon.  A wildfire had started up on the hill a couple streets down from my parents house, and was spreading around the mountain.  Even getting really close to a couple houses that border empty lots.  My parents weren't able to get down the hill because the fire department had blocked off traffic on the boulevard.  I was initially concerned because there was fire coming up on houses, and the FD wouldn't let people get out, but I suppose they were carefully monitoring, and the fire hydrants were on the opposite side of the boulevard of the fire.  WHY are they not on both sides??  So there was a chance my parents wouldn't be able to make it out for dinner, and maybe not at all.  And my mom was the one with the food!

 It took a couple hours, but they were finally cleared to come down the hill after the FD contained the fire enough for their liking.  Dinner was a bit later than we had anticipated, but we were just glad to be able to get together at all!

I love fireworks, and I'm glad we did all this today because we didn't do anything for the 4th!

Thomas and the girls played outside in the pool and with the hose for a while while dinner cooked.

After our own show, the neighbors in the circle down the street had their enormous show.  They spend THOUSANDS of dollars on aerials, and then rig them so they only have to light once and the spark catches them one by one.  It's seriously almost as good as a public park display, without the crowds!

Happy Pioneer Day!  We are so blessed by their sacrifices.

Car Improvements

In order to preserve the space inside the car for our trip, we had to decide how to be able to cart along all the stuff we would bring.  We were looking at the car top storage bins and installing a hitch and getting a storage box that sits on the hitch.  We determined the hitch and box would be much more accessible, as well as more space.  The hitch Jon ordered got here today, and he went out and installed it on the spot!

There were actually many snafus, with not having the right size wrenches more than once, and needing specific tools.  After many trips to Home Depot, he finally got it all installed correctly and ready to go!

We went shopping for the 24th tonight, and bought these two packages for our celebrations. We have invited over our families for the show.  Should be a good time!

We purchased this wagon for Michigan.  It will greatly simplify our hauling of stuff at the beach and at the pool here at home.

Jon got these elephant ear bulbs at the beginning of the summer and planted them.  They are growing very nicely outside!

Odette!

Aaaaaand, we did it!  Jon came home today, and we took our cashier's check to the dealership to drive away in our very own minivan!  It's a 2015 Honda Odyssey which we have aptly named Odette.

There were some issues with the air conditioner, though, which was worrisome.  We had taken it to Dwight to get it looked at before we purchased, and he said there is definitely something up with the pressure in the AC.  So we required that the dealership repair it.  Well...they were ridiculous and just flushed the system and put more coolant in it.  We decided it is still too good a deal to pass up, so we will be taking it to Dwight for a real repair before we leave for Michigan.

We surprised the girls with it (except Leiden, who was at her dad's) this afternoon.  They were thrilled, especially with all the extras this car has.  Lots of space, window shades, rear ventilation...we are so excited!

We have a weed tree growing in the side yard, and it just WON'T go away.  The landlord has been ineffectively just cutting it down to a stump several times a year, but that does not seem to slow it down at all.  The problem now is that the roots are disrupting both the grass and the fence.  So finally this year she decided to have them grind the stump, and today was the day!  We went out and watched their progress.  Hopefully this will be the end of it!

Later this morning the girls and I met my mom at Gardner Village to look at the baby shop there.  We found several treasures, and I took this cute little outfit home for our little one!  You forget how tiny they are when they come home!

Happy Birthday, Joni!

Each day the artichoke opens up a bit more.  Today we caught a little bee wandering around on the purple spikes.

Crazy that we eat these!

Today was Joni's birthday party, which Jon and I attended.  We are trying to narrow down names for baby, and we spent some time looking over the family trees this evening.  We found some names we like for her middle name, so we will see!  We are toying with Zada (from my family) for her first name, and looking for something pretty from Jon's line.  We found some version of Emaline, Sutton, and a couple others.  And then Jon played musical chairs!

Well.  Jon and I had originally planned to rent a giant 12-15 passenger van for our upcoming drive to Michigan, so the girls could each literally have their own row to minimize fighting and maximize available space.  But when we went to check them out, they were $1500, and hard to find.  We knew we needed a new car for when baby comes, and had already settled on the economy of a mini van.  So, we thought, why don't we take that money we would spend on the passenger van rental and put it towards a car we actually need?!

So we've been looking, and we really like this one.  We will be stopping by soon to test drive it and see if they are flexible on the price.  This is very exciting.  It's a rebranded title from a collision that was truly only cosmetic, so it allows us to get a 2015 for tens of thousands less than it would sell for with a clean title.  Since we are planning on running it into the ground, we don't particularly care if the title is rebranded because we won't be selling it anytime soon.

More Quail

They are so dang cute!  We look out the windows all the time now to see if we can see our little resident quail family.  The little ones are so funny, running after their mom while dad usually watches over his little family from a higher vantage point.  This is the first year I've seen them, and I don't know if I have just not noticed them before, or if they are new to our yard.

Slurpee Day

It's 7-11!  We had Thomas, and we decided to head over to the 7-11 for free slurpees before we headed to Wheeler Farm to meet Meghan and her kids!

Let me tell you what...they had a new flavor today...CAPTAIN CRUNCH BERRIES.  In Slurpee form.  I was quite skeptical until I tasted it.  It was actually REALLY good.  I love that cereal, but it scratches the top of my mouth and then just turns mushy.  But this.  The flavor was spot on, and I don't even know how they did it!  A very pleasant surprise.

It was so good to see Meghan.  It's been a while, and it was so fun to catch up.  Unfortunately Ella wasn't with them, so Leiden was a little bit bored.  She's definitely growing up, and I have such mixed feelings about it!

Thomas had a great time looking at the animals and especially the giant farm implements they have around the place.

Our artichoke plant has done really well, and one of the smaller artichokes we just let grow because it was so small has bloomed.  I forget that the artichoke is the FLOWER of the plant, and boy are they pretty!  Definitely a member of the thistle family, they are giant balls with soft purple spikes coming out of them! 

Little Meemer has a cavity, and we had to go in today to get it filled.  She was a little nervous, but did great.  If only the numbing didn't last so long!!

Later this afternoon I was back at the pool again with the girls.  They brought their noodles today and were having a great time with them in the shallow water.  Personally I am enjoying this last summer (for quite a few to come!) of being able to stay out of the water.  Next year we'll have a little cutie in a sun hat and swimsuit splashing around in the zero entry!  Until then, I will enjoy my book and embroidery in the shade!

Mac had her hair in tiny braids so she could try and approximate what a crimper would do.  She was quite pleased with the results, and brushed it out to get it even more poofy!

Leiden enjoys baking these days and often asks if she can make a treat.  Today she made delicious peanut butter chocolate cupcakes, and decorated them so beautifully!  They were super yummy!