Roger worked a lot this week, so it was nice to have aunt Jen here as a distraction. I felt out of sorts on Monday and a bit grouchy at my kids. I had to ask their forgiveness for not speaking nicely enough or having enough grace in my speech. We did go to the park in the afternoon, and the kids enjoyed getting in the water. It's not warm enough for me to do that this week, but they don't seem to mind cold water! Roger didn't get home until almost 9:00 pm., so he barely saw the kids that day. I struggle to be a balance single parent when Roger is working, but I don't want him to feel like he walks in the door and I say, "Here you go, they're all yours!" (I try not to do that anyways!!) However, bed time does eventually arrive, and I rejoice in the fact that the Lords mercies are new every morning!!
On Tuesday Roger had the day off, so we planned a fun day as a family. I had gotten a Groupon to a ropes adventure course a while ago, and the kids have been anxiously waiting for the day to arrive when they get to go climbing! We had the opportunity to visit this ropes course last summer, and the kids had really enjoyed it. This year I had Groupon passes for 12 people, and we had eight in our family since Hannah and Josh weren't able to come. However, God sent the right people along and we were able to go with some friends from church/school. We ended up having 18 people in our group, but the lady checking us in was awesome. She offered those that didn't have a pass the group rate which is a lot cheaper! It was very nice of her to give us the group rate and that made it a cheaper fun day for big families! We had a great time on the course. Last year, Emma had been willing to climb all over the course in her safety harness, but this year she wanted nothing to do with that. She hung out on the kids playground and tried out the kiddy zip line. I think she had a fun day, and it was nice that Allison had come along with her girls. She helped provide an extra set of eyes as Roger and I were busy climbing with the other kids. Roger had his hands full with the boys! They wanted to do all five levels and go on all the zip lines. I think they wore him out! It was a full day of fun and adventure, and it was made even more fun with friends.
Wednesday was the sunny day in the week and the warmest day of the week. Allison invited us down to the lake to swim. I had some errands to do in the morning as far as grocery shopping and taking Roger some lunch. It was a relaxing day.
Friday was beach day! Since Jen came to visit, we figured we should at least go to the beach. That's the touristy thing to do! It was a beautiful day, and the water was freezing! The boys all got in, but Jen, Emma and I just watched! I am glad that we did go to the beach though as it truly is a beautiful spot. We also spent time on Saturday getting the vehicle cleaned and ready for the trip to Boston the next day. Since Jen had an early morning as in 5:00 am., flight out of Boston, we decided to head down on Saturday to stay at a hotel.
We managed to get on the road for Boston by about 10:00am, and about a mile down the road one of the boys was rummaging for a snack! We also realized that the portable DVD players weren't working in the suburban. For whatever reason the cigarette lighter wasn't working and that was needed to make the DVD players work. I called Roger as that is always who I call first when something is broken, wrecked, or not functioning properly!! He said that a fuse had probably gone out and that if I replaced the fuse the DVD players might start working again. Since Jen was driving, I started reading the owners manual to figure out how to find the right fuse. The kids are fairly good travelers and since the DVD player is not a necessity, I figured we could wait until we got to Boston to figure it out. I knew that I would probably want to try to fix it as I would be driving by myself with the kids the next day.
We arrived at the hotel, and Jen took the kids swimming. I got the job of finding an auto place and trying to replace a fuse! The hardest part seemed like it would be the driving part! Driving in large cities is not my favorite thing to do, and Boston has a lot of traffic! However, God was merciful and I found an auto store. I am also thankful for google maps navigation these days! I walked into the auto place and a woman about my age asked if I needed help. I explained that I needed to replace a fuse. She asked which fuse needed replacing and I told her it was the cigarette lighter one. She asked what size was the fuse to which I gave a dumb look. She explained that unless I knew the type she wouldn't know if it was available. So back I went out to the truck and the owners manual. I popped the hood and found the fuse box. I also figured out which one was the AUX/PWR fuse which meant cigarette lighter! Hooray...now to get it out! The owners manual said to use a "fuse extractor"... what on earth is that?! Since I couldn't get out the fuse with my fingers, but I now knew what fuse I needed, I trotted back into the store. I found a box of fuses as in twenty of them. I only needed one, but it didn't appear that they had just one. I then found a different store employee, the manager this time, and I asked for a fuse extractor. He handed me a pair of pliers...why not just say a fuse extractor is a pair of pliers?! He also told me I didn't need a whole box of fuses, which I already knew...thank you! He handed me a fuse from the shelf behind him and told me to go try it. Back I went to the truck, popped the hood again, removed the fuse box protector, took out the old fuse, put the new one in and yay, it worked! Praise Jesus!!
It was a short night on sleep! We had everyone in bed by 8:25 pm, but we had to be leaving for the airport by 3:00 am. We managed to get everyone in the truck, and we arrived at the airport on time. One perk of traveling at three in the morning, is that traffic is very light! Garett climbed into the front seat, and he was my co-pilot. He didn't fall asleep, but he also wasn't very communicative! I was starting to feel tired at about 4:30 am., so I asked him to talk to me. He thought about it for a minute and then replied, "I don't have anything to say!" Well, buddy, that's not helpful! I called Roger instead and talked to him at five in the morning. I'm thankful that he is a morning person, and he was awake to talk to me. When I punched in the address from the airport...it said that we had 17 hours and 51 minutes to go to reach our destination...anyone want to guess what that destination is? We did arrive at our destination, and I'm thankful for God's protection, children that travel well, traveling mercies, and the grace of God. The truck also ran well, except for the last 100 miles. We will need to get it looked at soon.
Our love to you,
Sarah
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