Day 21

The air conditioning in our van hasn't worked in 2 or 3 years, but we thought we might try to get it fixed and take our own car on this trip instead of having to rent one that has air. We had someone working on it, but he ran up against a problem he couldn't fix. And it's making disturbing noises today. I have to take it to the garage tomorrow and see if they can find the problem, but we're running out of time! I'm thinking we'll have to rent a van. Of course that's the most expensive thing to rent. I don't have the heart to stuff 3 teenagers into the back of an SUV for 30 hours. They are so uncomfortable. We'll see, maybe ours can be miraculously fixed and we can take it. Although I'm not sure I want to rely on it without any days between fixing and leaving!

So, today we mostly worried about the van and the trip. I did make several phone calls about it, but I'm not sure what the kids learned from that. There must have been something. They were involved in several conversations about it. They got to listen to the sounds it was making and help me describe them--hey writing! Not to mention real life experience.

Sam was thinking about not having his legos for so many days while we're gone (he doesn't like to take them out of town), and he found some software online that would let him build virtually. We downloaded it, and he and Rachel played with it for just a few minutes. But the next time we tried to open it, it wouldn't work; so he's a little sad. I don't know how to make it work, and I especially can't think about it while I'm so worried about the car and the trip. Maybe his brother Wilson can help him figure it out when we get to his house.


Wilson and Kamille and Eliza moved to a new place yesterday. He's doing some more undergrad work so he can be accepted into a Marriage and Family Therapy grad program in the next year or so. Here are some pictures of Eliza smiling at Kamille's mom. I can't wait til that smile is for me! She looks so much like Kamille. Too adorable!

We made treat bags for each of us for in the car too. That was pretty productive. We have food allergies, so we can't eat too much that's prepackaged or convenient, but we have a few favorites and we got them all! We did open some chips this evening in hopes of cheering ourselves up, but they gave me a gall bladder attack. It didn't really cheer me up.

Well, there's always tomorrow. See you then!