Day 8

Morning started off by Eli exclaiming that today was going to be a "sunny day" with no rain. Poor Humboldt boy...he knows that it rains in the summer there. However, while it did start out a sunny day, it quickly grew dark, rained, thundered lots and rained some more...most of the day. The difference is that it was still 95 degrees and all the rain quickly became steam. The stickiness was a bit overwhelming today.

After the kids devoured a box of strawberry Special K, we started to get cleaned up for the day. Olivia had a date with cousin Rachel to get a mani/pedi and go out to lunch. The boys went with me and Grandma to drop off the disgusting car, get ice cream and go to the grocery store. The boys got a kick out of choosing their ice cream and topping and then watching it get mixed together. After ice cream we came home to relax. Nathan challenged Grandma to a game of Sorry...

He won and was very proud of himself. I don't think that has ever happened before... :-)

Olivia and Rachel returned in the afternoon all spruced up...

They also visited a chocolate store where they bought treats to share. Olivia is pretty enamoured with her big cousin.

I asked Rachel if she would then drive me to pick up my car. I figured I should call first. I googled the name of the shop with the street name and city/state. I got 2 results and called the first one. When I asked if my black Chevy Tahoe was ready, they said "hold on..." and transferred me to another person. I asked the 2nd person again if my black Chevy Tahoe was ready. This person also said "hold on...". Again I asked a 3rd person about my car. She said "you know that you called the Taco Cabana...a restaurant...not The Cabana". Now why did it take 3 people to tell me that?

My car is again beautiful and clean. I am so used to having limited options at home. Here there are so many options and very competitive prices, that I am going to look into getting a few other things done while I have the chance.

Tonight I made chicken enchiladas with the New Mexican chili powder we got in Albuquerque. Mom...I did you proud. They were a hit. I also made Spanish rice and a salad. For the kids I heated up some black beans to go on the rice and called it dinner.

On our list of things to do this week include a day of swimming, go to the Childrens Museum and ride the train in the park. Not sure which of these is on the agenda for tomorrow.