Day Two Hundred Seventy-Three: Stoplight Entertainment

As we rode in our Uber over to the Gold Museum today, we got to see a truly unique spectacle. When we stopped at a traffic light, a man dressed as a clown jumped up on the flatbed truck stopped in front of us and began juggling machetes. At the end of his act, before the light changed, he even balanced one of the machetes on his tongue. His timing was perfect, and he hopped down just in time to solicit donations from a few onlookers before we all started moving with the flow of the crazy traffic again. I have honestly never seen anything like it!

Stoplight Entertainment

Day One Hundred Ninety-Seven: Ford Expedition

Before my brother-in-law and sister-in-law moved to South Africa earlier this month, we bought their Ford Expedition, which immediately became Jeff's vehicle. Today, was my first time to drive it. My original Year of Firsts wishlist included "Drive a convertible," but, honestly, "Drive a Ford Expedition" is more in line with where I am in life, and I'm ok with that.

Day One Hundred Forty-Nine: Pinewood Derby Car

Joining Cub Scouts with Clay in the fall has given me many opportunities I might not have otherwise had. For instance, today I got to assist Clay and Jeff with the building of the Pinewood Derby car. Since we don't own any power tools (except for a drill), I spent quite a bit of time sawing on a block of wood with a tiny handsaw. And, I did that in my high-heeled booties, my sparkly sweater, and my tiara. Because I'm awesome. 

Day One Hundred Thirty-Nine: A Beach Drive

We decided to take our Honda Pilot on its first beach drive today, trying out some of the features of the vehicle we haven't had a chance to explore, like "sand mode" and "mud mode." As we were driving along and being very proud of our little SUV for not getting stuck, we realized with a shock and element of sadness that this is the first vehicle we've owned in our married life we haven't named. We will have to see if we can remedy that.

The (unnamed) Pilot's first drive on the beach

The vehicle in front of us had some really cute passengers!

Day One Hundred Twenty Four: 830 Miles in Five Days

Since Friday, I have logged just over 830 miles behind the wheel. These are actual driving miles and not just snack-eating, nap-taking passenger seat miles. I took Ruth to Tyler for a horse show and then drove her down to Houston for a week of working with her aunt. Then, I headed up to Belton so I could catch my mom in a singing performance, before heading home this afternoon. We are a road tripping family, but Jeff and I usually either split the driving or he does the bulk of it, so this was definitely a record for me.

Day One Hundred Twenty-Two: Rogue One

I am not really a fanatical Stars Wars fan, but I have seen all the movies at least once, in the theater, no less. All except one. I missed Rogue One last year, because, according to our family rule, Clay was still too young to see the movies, so I stayed home with him while everyone else went to see it. The older kids have since taken a vote to let Clay into the Stars Wars club a little early, so he's been trying to see all of them before the new one comes out in theaters next week. Since I missed Rogue One, I decided I better get caught up, too. So Max and Clay and I piled into the back seat of the parked car today and watched it on an iPad with a shattered screen. There were several new experiences in there, and a good time was had by all!

Watching Rogue One with a couple of cuties

Day One Hundred Eight: To the Rescue

Jeff took the boys to the family ranch this weekend. On the way back, the van broke down completely and there weren't any options for rides or rental cars. So, in another case of the First picking me rather than me picking it, I hopped in the car and made the two hour drive to go pick them up. They were glad to be rescued, and I was so thankful they had broken down in a very safe spot, away from the crazy holiday weekend traffic.

Day Forty-Nine: Uber to and from practice

Our weekly schedule is pretty crazy, just like almost everyone we know, especially families with kids. But, since I injured my knee, and especially since I had the surgery, we have had the added challenge of having just one driver. (Ruth can drive with a licensed driver, but for Tuesdays and Thursdays, even that doesn't help us.) Jeff has been amazing at juggling everything, and my mom helped out tremendously when she was here over the weekend. But when the time of Max's Thursday gymnastic class got switched up on us, there was just not going to be any way for Jeff to get three people to three far flung locations at the same time, super hero though he is. We talked through our options and finally came up with Uber as a solution. I recently experienced the first of walking one of my kids to practice, but I can honestly say I have never Ubered anyone to practice before! Admittedly it felt a little odd to hire a driver to take the two younger boys and myself less than two miles, but it worked out beautifully, and I'm so very thankful we live in a place where this is an option!

The Uber App, showing several cars in my area