An AWESOME Week - CARLESS

This last week has been the most awesome of the year with only one tragedy along the way. First, the tragedy was my car. I'm now carless so if you know anyone with a cheap car that runs... Oh, but the story...

I had my "normal" weekend with my kids last week, but we got to extend it. I picked up the girls after a chiropracter appointment on Friday. We got back early since they were in Mt. Ayr and not at their Grandma's or Mom's house another 10-30 miles away. We got back about 8:30pm so we watched a movie (Are We There, Yet?) and then said our prayers and went to bed. Saturday we went swimming at a local pool and just goofed off most of the day. We also went and watched Herbie Fully Loaded, which was actually pretty decent. It wasn't as funny as the original Herbie movies that I grew up on, but it was good.

Sunday was church and then the extra time began. Instead of taking them back to their mom's, I got to take them to my parents in Missouri! We headed out about 2:20pm in the hot afternoon with no air conditioning. Paige did some napping and Brittany beat me at a game of Zip 290-190. We stopped at my brother's house and they joined us for supper at Steak & Shake. I love that place and so do the girls. We had a full meal and a great time visiting with Brad and Brenda. We then hit the road and got to my parent's house just after dark. When we pulled up we saw Dad waving to us from the pool. We went in and quickly changed and then joined him in the pool and then Mom came out to join us. Evening swims are the best. My parent's have a solar cover for the pool so it was also warm.

On Monday we slept in and then Mom took us to lunch at a great sandwich shop. We just hung around at the house mostly awaiting the arrival of both of my brothers and their families. When Brad arrived, Brittany and I were playing catch in the back yard. Brad joined us and it was just surreal playing catch with my brother and daughter in my dad's backyard. Dad even joined us for a bit. Dad was doing a little grilling, too, for dinner that night. Brian and his wife and 4 kids showed up and it wasn't long until the cookout was in full swing. After dinner we went swimming. It was great watching the 6 grandkids all playing in the pool. Even the baby had his own floater and the 2 year old was armed with squirt guns.

We decided that on Tuesday we would hit Six Flags. That was a great decision and so much fun! Batman The Ride quickly became my favorite of the 3 roller coasters I went on. The Boss was great, too, and the Screamin' Eagle brought back memories of my youth. My all-time favorite ride, The Highland Fling, was closed for the day. The most fun, though, was watching the cousins all play together and go on the various rides. Brian's two oldest and my daughters had a lot of fun bonding that day. I even got to hear the two oldest singing in the van on the way home. We topped the day off with pizza and left the park at just the right time as it started raining.

We said our goodbyes Tuesday night because the ex wanted me to have the girls home by 11AM. I'm not sure what her major deal was with this as she originally wanted us home Tuesday at 10pm. She also knew that in order to be there by 11AM, we would have to get up at 5AM. At least we got the entire day Tuesday. We said our goodbyes and tried to get as much sleep as possible before getting up at 5AM.

The trip home was uneventful. We went through Kansas City and stopped there for some breakfast. We had to make a couple of small detours that put us about 10 minutes behind and then the worst happened a half hour from having the girls home.

At a stop light in Maryville, the car died. I mean dead. A guy stopped and helped me push it to the side of the road and a woman was kind enough to offer us a ride in to the next full service gas station. The guy there towed it in and said the timing chain had gone out. He couldn't guarantee that fixing it would actually solve all the problems and that it could be a waste of money. He offered to take it off my hands for the tow charge. The ex and her hubby came and picked us up and it took a total of 3 more rides to get me back to Des Moines. Thank goodness for good friends!

The entire time was great up until that moment, but it didn't ruin it for me. I had a great time with my family and so did the girls. I can't wait to do it again!