We went to Myrtle Beach for vacation last week. The kids had their school vacation so I took a week off and we headed down to PW's parent's condo just south of Myrtle Beach.
It took 19 hours to travel 950 miles and it was brutal. We had a lot of fun down there but I really dreaded the 950 miles back.
PW's ankles were swollen after the ride down and then she sprained her ankle while we were there. She ended up in an ambulance and got taken to a local hospital because they thought she broke it. It ended up being a bad sprain. She was a trooper and we still managed to do lots of stuff while the preggie hobbled around!
I reconfigured the seating arrangements for the ride home so she could sit in the 3rd row seat and stretch out her legs on top of the folded down seat in front of her and could keep her feet elevated.
We traded in the X-Terra and Versa in order to purchase a 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV.
The X-Terra gets ok gas mileage when gas is selling for around $1.25/gallon. When prices get over $3.00/gallon it becomes an exercise in fiscal pain to fill the tank more than once a week.
The Versa got ok mileage but wasn't a practical car to fill with two adults, one kid, on teen, and a car seat.
So now we have a hybrid SUV that comes with a fold down third row and an average of 26MPG. I've driven it around town and the car makes no noise when it is running off of the battery. It makes it great on fuel economy when you are driving in stop and go traffic, in a parking lot, or in a downtown area when the speed limit is less than 25MPH.
Our new car also has heated seats, a good sound system, and Bluetooth capabilities for hands-free mobile phone use.
We're saving money on insurance, registering cars, and overall maintenance as well as the improved fuel economy we get with the new car, plus it is a hooked up car that runs great!
Here are some pictures of my new office, the upstairs bathroom for the kids, and the unfinished space over our garage.
PW and I just took a walk in the woods with the dog and explored the trails that are behind our home. We've seen deer but on this trip we only saw their prints and poop...lots of poop and it was all over the trail! The land behind us is conservation land so all the deer go there to hide out, and poop, I guess.
Aside from that the woods are very nice and feature a small brook, stone walls, and lots of trees! We look forward to doing much more explanation in the months and years ahead.
Oldest Daughter started the day off with sending me a text message informing me that Middle Daughter got arrested the night before. "What ?!?!" I sent back followed up by "Is she still in there now?!!?" which earned me a phone call asking how I knew. Daddy ALWAYS knows was my wise answer.
PW sent me a text from the doctor's office "They think it might be twins!" to which I replied "That explains the weight gain!". A co-worker advised against sending that reply but it was too good a one to pass by especially since I think PW looks incredible at almost 28 weeks being pregnant and tell her so every day.
Later in the day I put colored tape over the optical sensor of my co-worker's mouse. She came back and even flipped it over and looked at the bottom when it wasn't working...I guess the lime green color wasn't obvious enough for her!
I called Oldest Son on the way home and told him that his SO asked me to talk with him because she didn't know how to break the news to him that she is pregnant. "Holy shit!" was his reply and mine was "April Fool's!".
Finally, I called Middle Daughter's SO and told him that something serious needed to be discussed and that we were going to have a family meeting that night. When he asked why I told him that she was pregnant which was followed by stunned silence and a gasped "No!". A slight pause on my part was followed up with the realization that he had been had and he said, "I hate you so much right now!" When I asked if I had gotten him he told me that he was shaking.
All in all, it was an awesome April Fool's Day!