we got it.

Monday was crazy.

We had found a new Odessey (without DVD) at a dealership 30 minutes away.

We found a used one (a 2006, with DVD) at a dealership 3 hours away.

There was no way we could make it to see both of them on the same day.

The sale on the new one ended Monday.

The 06 they had just gotten in on Saturday, and they offered to get it cleaned up, serviced and hold it for us to look at if we could get there that day.

Corey spent time Monday morning on the phone with two different salesmen, and back and forth with me. He came home from work around 9:30 and we started trying to decide which one to go for. It so happened that the kids were both at daycare Monday, and it was the one afternoon that my mom would be able to come pick them up at 4:00. She had two different things scheduled... both of which had been cancelled. (Amazing how God takes care of the details sometimes!)

Thank you for all the advice regarding the DVD player! But, you all were split pretty much 50/50! Not so helpful, after all!

We finally made the decision to go for the used one in Kansas City. It does have the DVD player, but... this wasn't our deciding factor. (The fact that it was significantly cheaper and we could have it paid off 2 years earlier was the deciding factor. The DVD was just a bonus!) :)

We ended up leaving for KC a little before 11:00 am and finally got home (in seperate vehicles... after stopping to pick up the kids) at 11:00 pm. Long, long day.

But it was worth it.

The kids think it is "the best van in the whole world!" (The DVD player and the sunroof are their favorites! They ask if we can get a convertible anytime we see one, so they thought a sunroof was the next best thing!)

I am loving the extra space already. I spent time tonight getting all the little cubbies and storage areas filled with things from the car. (Love, love, love the under seat storage! It's my favorite feature!)

All we need to make it complete now is a third carseat! She will be here before we know it! (101 days according to my little baby countdown!)

i'm trying.

I'm trying hard to update my blog, but it is proving difficult.
Apparently I have exceeded my photo upload quota.
I didn't know that was possible, actually.

I've used up my free 1 GB of space and paid $20 for another 10 GB.
Just waiting on it to go into effect.
Lots of posts... lots of pictures... hopefully coming soon!

(and yes, there will be pictures of a van!) :)

harvest.

Beautiful Kansas sunset...

We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's for a quick bath and some bedtime books.

Quiet ride home...

van advice.

We need some advice...

We know what kind of van we want, we're just trying to find a good deal.
We found one tonight at a dealership about 30 minutes away.
They are having a special 4th of July sale that lasts until tomorrow.
The price is good and it looks like just what we want.
But... we're not sure if it has a DVD player or not.

That's something we've said we wanted.
Not for frequent use, not for short trips, just for longer ones.
We have a portable one that we use now, but only occasionally. (We don't go on that many long trips.)
The question we are asking ourselves... should the DVD be a deciding factor?

Yes, a built in one would be much more convenient.
But... is it that important?
We plan on having this van for a long, long time.
But... would we end up using it too much? Breaking our rule about not using it on short car trips, just because it's so convenient?
The one we have just has 2 screens, but the baby won't be facing the right direction for a year. When the time comes, could 2 kids watch off one screen in captains chairs? (One child would be pretty off center from the screen.)

So those of you with or without DVD players... what is your opinion??
If this van has the DVD, it will be a no-brainer.
But if it doesn't... do we hold out for one with the DVD or do we just keep our portable one and call it good? Will we end up regretting not getting the DVD?

We are going to look at this van tomorrow (remember... sale ends tomorrow) and we need some advice...

swim lessons.

We tried a new teacher for swim lessons this year.
Oh, my. We were impressed.
The kids loved Mr. Chacour and they both learned so much!

It took Lawson about 10 minutes the first day to actually get in the pool.
He finally believed us that he would be able to touch the bottom.




He got a little braver each day, but never quite got up the nerve for good jumps from the side. (Funny... because he was loving this last summer!)

Lawson wasn't crazy about getting his eyes in the water, either...

He would check with Chacour first to make sure his eyes were closed all the way.

This little girl did AWESOME!

So excited... so confident... so willing to try whatever he asked her to do.

Sophie is so excited about swimming now! I can't wait to get her back in lessons by herself again next summer! (She's already talking about it, too!) Truly some of the best money we've spent this summer. Totally worth every penny.

There was also a fun little reward for doing well at swim lessons. Pictures of that to come soon!

miss amy's pool.

Our neighbor, Miss Amy, doesn't just spoil our dog... she spoils our kids.
She offered us their pool while they were out of town for a few days. (and any other time the kids see her and holler, "Can we come swim in your pool?!" We're working on the whole "good manners/not inviting yourself over" concept.) :)

This little miss has done a super job at her swim lessons and has turned into a little fish!

This little chicken finally believed us that he was not going to drown with three different floaties on. Before he just clung to us and wrapped himself around us like a little spider monkey.

He "swims" and we call him "Splashy." :)

Thanks, Miss Amy!

ice cream truck.

We hear the music from the ice cream truck almost every other day.

99% of the time, we say no.

The other day, Daddy said yes.

These were two happy kids!