Life without Henry

Wow a "normal" day today. Everyone was on their normal schedule. The only big difference was we were not driving Henry which put several kinks in the day.

We borrowed Michael's parent's van so we could get an estimate on getting Henry repaired (thank you!). Of course that meant installing 4 car seats in the van - which was not a fun task but luckily we thought to do it last night. I had to move the stroller to the van as well.

After the girls' morning nap we went to the grocery store. It took about 2 hours from the time we left our house until we got home (the grocery store is only 10 minutes away). Pushing the stroller and pulling the cart and keeping 3 girls happy during the excursion is always interesting. Charlotte was a good helper today and the girls slept most of the time. It got interesting when we got the groceries in the van and the stroller wouldn't fit too. Of course by this point Eliza was crying and Charlotte was ready for lunch. After about 5 minutes and moving half the groceries to a different location and trying to fit the stroller in 3 different locations we were finally ready to go home. It is amazing how different 2 mini vans can be.

I also realized today just how much I appreciate my power doors. The garage door wasn't working (the door would only go up about 18 inches before stopping). This meant I could not take one baby out to the garage strap her in and come back in for the second one. I had to take them both out at the same time as I don't like leaving one of them in the car alone in the driveway while I go in to get the other one. My neighbors must get a good laugh watching me cart both of them out together, trying to get the front door shut before the cat escapes. Only to get to the van and have to try to open the doors with both hands full and no push button opener! I am happy to say I managed to get both girls in the van without dropping anyone. And of course I got to repeat this when I got home from the store and when we left to pick Rehm up from school. I am happy to report that my wonderful husband has repaired the garage door so I won't have to "juggle" everyone to leave the house anymore.

I did realize when we got home from dinner (with Grandma and Grandpa) that I left the stroller in their van. Luckily I have my back up stroller to use tomorrow so I don't have to make a special trip in to get it. I know you're thinking what's the big deal about being without the stroller for a day? Well if you can easily carry two wiggly 20 lb babies, while corralling 2 other children and opening doors and such it isn't a big deal! But for us mortal humans it really is a necessity for leaving the house.

After getting the estimate to fix Henry, the person who hit us decided she would file the accident with her insurance. So hopefully we can get the ball rolling and have him back to normal soon. Of course this will mean going through the process of using a different van for a few days and I can honestly say that always makes me very glad to get Henry back.

A useful thing I learned today. If your three year old chews the end off of the stylus on the leap frog explorer globe you can call the company and for $5 they will send you an new one. I don't know why Charlotte thought chewing the end off was a good idea but until the new stylus gets here Rehm will be borrowing her globe and Charlotte will be doing some extra chores to pay for the replacement stylus. Who has bets on how long it is before we order the next replacement stylus?

Happy Weekend!