Our new Minivan

I guess we're not minivan people afterall--for the time being. After eight months of research (and probably a year of nagging/Chinese Water torture) about wanting, then needing a new car, we are the proud owners of a Hybrid!

I'm so excited. Eddie's excited. That's him grinning after 1.5 hours of stop and go traffic to get the freakin' car 60 miles south. It was literately the last model in the entire DC area with the features we wanted.

Granted it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a minivan, but then it's not a minivan. No offense to owners of minivans--they are very nice cars--and actually from a dollars and cents perspective, you can get more car for the price with a minivan.

It's EPA rated for something like 28 and 33 mpg, but I think we'll hover more in the 22 range AND not pollute during stop and go as the engine shuts off. It drives nicely and is actually shorter than the Accord. It has a third row seat--suitable for small adults or children, but it does have one. We're going to hang onto the Honda for now and see how we are with 2 cars. We haven't had 2 cars in over 5 years. We might get spoiled.

I'm sure there will be further reports on the car, but thanks to some responses to our post, we really did think twice (and three times) about the minivan we were trying to talk ourselves into. I can just see the different reaction in that I'm excited about this car, yet with the minivan, it would have been more of a resigned decision. I'm so excited to have a hybrid---yea! It really is perfect for the kind of stop and go city driving we do. I feel so 'green'.

Summer Sprinkler Fun

I can't believe, but this is the first time this summer Ed's been in the sprinkler. I knew he'd love it, but man, did he make for some great photos. There were several more I could have added, but after the heat I took from all the basketball photos...

He approached the sprinkler cautiously, just sticking a hand, then an arm in. He started throwing pieces of grass and then mini-maple tree weeds Den was picking for him. Gradually he got more and more of himself in. Here he is just starting to get into it.

I love this photo. One of my favorites.
We've had this second-hand trike for a little while, and he enjoys playing with the parts of the bike, but this was the first time he climbed on board of his own accord--and did so a couple times. He was ringing that bell there, which he had mastered previously.
You might be able to see the leaves from the plants he'd been holding. He kept getting way down on his haunches and gradually standing up, all the while with his face in the water, getting a taste.
Soon enough his buddy Lizzie came over. She is 7 months older.

They actually are banging heads right at this moment, was pretty funny, they both kind of separated afterwards, I guess to recover.

So I hope that makes up for the lack of pictures previously...without making it a movie.

Buying a New Car

Dennis and I are looking at cars. His 94 Honda Accord with nearly 85K miles is getting close to that nickel and dime point. It's the only car we have and I'd like something that I don't worry about stalling during rush hour.

In an ideal world, there would be a miata-like hybrid that could take a car seat. Since that car doesn't exist right now, we're looking at minivans. I swore, up one side and down the other that I would NEVER own a minivan. Yet, it seems for the features they have, they're not that bad. Afterall, there is a reason they are so popular. We have considered/looked at what feels like half the cars on the market. Thanks to our travels and Avis, we've gotten to test drive a lot of them on various trips.

I like the Buick Rendevous, but just don't see it holding up for reliability, and if I were to get that type of a car--an SUV type, I'd just go with the Highlander Hybrid--which don't get me started on how it's not really a hybrid. We started out looking at the Prius, Ford Explorer, Camry Hybrid, Honda and Civic hybrids, and we keep coming back to the minivan. I wonder if I will be able to live with myself if I don't get a hybrid, I want one in the worst way.

There are no pictures with this post because it's 11am and Ed's asleep. This is because when he woke at 5:45 this morning instead of going back to sleep like he usually does, he stayed awake. So while I'm beat, Ed is catching a nap. Maybe we'll get some pictures later today.

Playin' Around

This picture was taken with the manual settings on the SLR--I'm really excited with how well it turned out. Ed is playing in his room. Typically we take out all the toys during the day and dad puts them away at the end of the day.


Check out these shoes. This cracked me up. First he "asked" me to put his sneaker on (we just bought them). I got the one on and started with the second sock when he decided that he wanted the sandle on instead. He pulled the sock off his foot (it was part way on), and tried to get the sandle on. Crazy thing is at the beginning of the summer, these sandles were too large for him--by a lot and now he has completely outgrown them. His toes hang over the edge. Crazy. He's gone from about a 4.5 to a 5.5, almost 6 in shoes in just a couple months!

Lately we've been going to the park in the mornings. He enjoys it, it's quiet and the equipment is still cool to the touch. Would like to experiment with other parks, but it's so easy to fall back on the old stand by. It's the first time he crawled through the tube (below). He'd gone up to it several times, but never quite got up the nerve to get more than just inside the tube.

Newport, RI

What a nice and relaxing weekend. We flew up to Newport to accept a long-standing invitation from a colleague of Den's to spend a weekend. With 10 +/- neices and nephews they were well prepared for Eddie and unfazed by his antics.

Eddie fell asleep both times we went out on their boat. The first day he sleep almost the whole time, around 2 hours, snoozing through some pretty fast speeds and thumps as the boat caught air and then landed on the water again. Kept right on sleeping. We were all impressed.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the very shi shi party we went to. I am not exagerating when I say it was a 'beautiful people' party. Everyone we met was really nice and it was in a beautiful setting, right on the water. It was in part for a magazine, Boston Common, and Eddie had his picture taken at numerous points by the party photographer.

So on the return flight, we learned what TSA will do if you bring banned liquids through security. We brough a container of milk for Ed, but because it was not in his bottle/sippy cup and because there was water in the sippy cup, I had to go back out of security to dump the water (I was not permitted to drink the literately one gulp of water to put the milk in the bottle). To say I was aggravated would be an understatement. They held us up for an eternity, even after I asked to just pitch the stuff so we could continue on. They wanted to wait and get the final word from the boss.

So, my advice would be not to screw around with this policy, especially if you just came through a long security line, you literately could miss your flight.

If It's Thursday...

It must be either a travel day, or a packing day. That's right, we'd headed out of town this weekend. We're headed to Newport, RI to visit a colleague of Dennis' who has invited us to his place for at least 3 years and we have never been able to make it work--until now.

No pictures of Eddie the last couple days--I think I blew my wad on the b-ball hoop. We'll be back Sunday night, so I'll be able to post then. This is just in time for all the TSA no beverages stuff. I just hope the airlines are putting extra milk on those flights or there are going to be a lotta screaming kids. Thank goodness we're not flying to the UK---I seriously think I'd change my plans.

Till Sunday.

The Natural

Over the weekend, we were playing around out back --Ed loves my headbands for those lazy weekend mornings. He went around putting it on us, looping it through arms and legs, and trying to get it over our heads.


I have been dying to get Ed the pictured basketball hoop for a long time. I've been looking for a used one and recently gave up, deciding to buy this one. Dennis tells me the Natural is baseball, but I'm not picky.

No sooner did I have it out of the box then he was shooting hoops--right in the kitchen where I was assembling. We didn't tell him or show him anything--he just grabbed a ball and put it in the hoop.

Ed was downright spastic with excitement, running all over the house looking for his various balls to throw in. He especially thought it funny when the beach ball would get stuck in the hoop and he'd have to pull it through or put another ball through.

Not sure how long the excitement will last, but it must find a permanent home outside the living room.

92 degrees feels good

Funny, after a couple 100+ degree days how 92 degrees can feel pleasant. We're keeping cool--partly by eating our weight in watermelon. I love watermelon.

My memories as a kid in Florida were buying these huge watermelons out of the back of a truck on the side of US 27, just outside of town, 4 for $1. We'd then get these huge pieces and stand outside, lurched forward (so the juice wouldn't drop on our feet), with the juice dripping down our arms and chin, spitting the seeds out. Now they have seedless. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think along with the seeds, they bred a little of the taste out of them.

Ed sure likes watermelon. Right now, he likes eating on the rind. It took a while, but we have mostly convinced him that unless pickled, the red part tastes better than the green part. I cut the watermelon up and then leave a little on the rind for him to play with. I think it feels good on the 4, yes that's FOUR teeth he's cutting right now.

We discovered these teeth in Wisconsin. I have no idea which they are, but they are about halfway back, he's getting mirror teeth, same on either side and top and bottom.

100 degrees and bad air

It was just too disgusting to go outside today. If it's the same tomorrow, we'll have to find somewhere for Ed to run wild.


So 96 isn't that bad in Wisc., but 100 in a major metropolitan area with horrible air quality to begin with is downright awful. I think I have a summer cold, so my throat is already raw, but I can't even breathe outside. Why do I live here again? Funny how in the US, we can live pretty much anywhere we want to, yet why do we live where we do?

I digress. Den wanted me to upload this "aide" to my prior post.

Part 2--Ohio and Pennslyvania

This are way out of order, so bear with me on this. This is the church of the wedding that we attended in Pittsburgh. It is a beautiful old church, both inside and out. Allow your eye to follow the vertical line to the top and notice how it changes. Almost like a piece of the spire is missing--just to the left of the gargoyle--not the part that has the sky as the background, but the line that runs up to the top. Well, that's because it is. Story below.

Here Ed is helping mom unpack. I managed to get all the newspapers in the recycle tonight and Ed helped unload the clothes onto the floor. Afterwards, he decided to climb in the suitcase--guess he wants to go again!

Here's the happy couple, notice the pile of rubble in this photo and the one below. Well, all through the service it was threatening to rain, thundering, wind blowing. Finally at the end of the service, it let loose and just poured--good luck for the bride and groom. Then the lightening started.

After the service, guests were treated to cool beverages in an adjoining room. As we stood there, one really loud clap of thunder and lightening happened almost instantly. Den relayed how in weaponry there is something called 'flash to bang', which basically tells you how far you are from the explosion/detenation. When this one happened, the lights went out and Den said it was a 'zero', that it happened very close.

You could literately feel the church shake and I asked if he thought it hit the church. He doubted it, but that it was extremely close. Well, after the rain stopped, we went outside to find this and a whole lotta people starring with wide eyes. Thankfully no one was hurt. I'll be interested in hearing from the bride about what they were doing when it struck.

So g'ma and g'pa Ohio took care of Eddie for us for 2, count 'em 2 mornings in a row (notice I didn't say nights, because it's the mornings that counted, where we got to sleep in. So I don't have any photos of Ed--but I'm sure they do. Was great to get away, but we were happy to see Ed again. Here he is in the airport back home--kind of looks like he's clicking his heels.