Being Car-less

Since last Wednesday, we have been without a car. The rear drive shaft (whatever that is) is out of commission, but hopefully we will get it back from the shop today or tomorrow.

Theo pushed his stroller into the woods, then climbed in

Being without a car has definitely been inconvenient, and rather stressful. I was in charge of the Branch activity last Friday, so scrambling to try and find people to take care of the things I was going to do, let alone finding a ride for us to actually get there was quite a feat.  I also wanted to help my friend Martille who is getting married on Friday, with all the last minute preparations (like packing and moving out of her apartment), so arranging rides out there was tricky.

just sitting...

 All that said (and now that the crazy weekend is just a memory), not having a car hasn't done us in yet.  We've actually been having a great time.  Corbin stayed home and played on Labor day, and we took family pictures- that blog post will be pretty darn cute, so get excited!

We haven't been confined to our home as much as I thought.  But the time we do spend here is fun.  Theo and I have been reading A LOT of stories lately, and I love it.  We set the bin next to us on the couch, and he pulls out one book after another.  Sometimes we even get to finish one or two!

Martille (who is getting married) is staying with us this week, during that awkward time between her lease ending and actually living with her husband.  I think we should have house guests more often, though, because Theo thrives on the situation.  When he wakes up in the morning and sees there is already a friend in his house, he is instantly happy and cute.  If Martille weren't moving on to bigger and better things, I'd beg her to stay!

Yesterday, our lovely new neighbors invited us to the Siencenter.  I'd heard it was the thing to do, but we'd never been before.  Since Theo is old enough to appreciate it, we dove right in and got a year-long pass, jumped in Jhenah's car with her kids, and spent the afternoon there.

Theo was in heaven!  First of all, he loves being with the kids, and any other kids that we ran in to (sometimes literally). But oh the wonderful things to see and touch and play with!!!

His favorite things were the multiple water tables in which to play. Notice the adorable smock?  Those Sciencenter people are no fools.

In the outside area, there were (among plenty of other fun things) some big bubble stations.  Theo enjoyed splashing around in those... sigh... then going to coat himself at the sand table... double sigh...

One bit of excitement we weren't counting on occurred on our way to the cafeteria to have lunch.  Apparently someone was cooking in the kitchen, burned whatever it was, and set off the fire alarm.  We made due, and ate our lunch outside while they reset the system.  Theo tried to snuggle up to a little girl, then tried to poke a sleeping baby in the head. He's just so full of love, you know?

This morning, I got sick enough of Theo's mullet and scraggly old man hairs, to actually do something about it.

After watching this youtube clip a few times for distraction, the deed was done.  Theo decided to take a few selfies to record this day in history.

What a little man he is!

Down the street a ways, there used to be a sweet old wooden playground, but I guess it was too much of a safety hazard, or something silly like that.  They tore it down, and put up this beauty. Theo is standing at one of those pipe/phone things.  I love that it's his height, every other one I've seen is too tall for him to get himself.

One last thing.  I'm putting this on my blog to make a commitment to you, and to myself.  I WILL be painting my living room, and giving it a little makeover.  Next week (assuming we have a car again), I will be power-washing the carpets, painting, and getting a few accessories.  If pictures don't start rolling in by October, I encourage you to harass me about it!