It was not a good day for the Erickson family yesterday. Don’t panic. Nobody got in a car accident or anything like that and our house is still here, but we did have a few other things pile up on us.
First, I had taken the van in on Monday to see if they could fix it. It’s been running really rough the past few weeks (and that darn check engine light has been bugging me) and I worried that it was going to stop running altogether. They told me they would “start with a tune-up” and see if that takes care of the problem. Well, even though a tune up sounds like a simple adjustment of a few car gadgets, it’s really at least two hours of labor to practically get the entire engine out to check wires, spark plugs,etc. The tune up (which it honestly needed at 136,000+ miles) itself was about $300. But that didn’t solve the problem. They tested a couple more things and I think it was the fuel injector that was causing all the trouble. Anyway, the total came to just over $500. Gulp.
Next, my dishwasher hasn’t been working very well, and this week I finally figured out a day I could be home for a few hours, so I called the repair man. He came yesterday and took apart my dishwasher enough to tell me that there was a problem with the main valve, and it wasn’t filling with water properly. He could order a new part, and for a mere $226 he’ll come back and install that part (on Monday). Gulp. Unfortunately, since he disconnected things, the dishwasher that was limping along but still worked, now doesn’t really work much, so that means we’ll be hand washing our dishes. Yes, I should have waited until I didn’t have 10 people living in my house before making this decision, but who knew?
Later, Ryan went to pay for the van’s mini-makeover and take it back to his work. As he was pulling out, he realized that the tire was flat. He pulled back over to fill it, and the repair guy came out and said, “I filled that tire earlier. It shouldn’t be flat already.” Shouldn’t be, but yet it is. Luckily, there is a tire place just around the corner, so Ryan went over there to see if he could get the flat repaired. It could not be repaired. Of course not. And the wear indicators were showing on the other tires to let us know that, “Dude, you’re driving on bald tires,” (my quote, not his). Gulp. Let’s plop down another $400 something on tires, shall we? (The good part of the story is that Ryan was actually the one who dealt with the tire problem, as I’ve already mentioned my claustrophobia and panic that comes from hanging out in repair places, let alone my total lack of knowledge when it comes to all things automotive. Or I could have been driving home late at night and had to deal with a flat tire. Hello? Triple A?)
Now I understand that repairs happen. But must they all happen in the same day?
After I got home from rehearsal last night, I sat down and opened the mail. Hmmm. What’s this letter from the IRS? . What the….? We’ve received a notice that informs us that we owe the IRS aprox. $3900 for a mistake in our taxes in 2005. Gulp. I handed it all over to my tax man (Ryan) and managed to not scream or swear or hit anyone. I think I handled it pretty well.
Meanwhile, I’ll be canceling all of our fun plans for the rest of the summer. And maybe selling all of my children’s belongings on ebay.
  
If you’ve never tried them before, they are worth every penny (especially when you buy a whole quart sized ziplock bag of them for $1 at a garage sale. I just had to buy more to replenish my supply though, after 6 kids doing 2 or 3 each). They keep kids occupied for a while, and they can make all kinds of designs on the little molds. They were a big hit. In fact, when their mom and dad came home, they yelled, “No! You can’t be home yet! I’m not done with my design!” But I stayed long enough for them to finish up.
disappear for hours playing happily together. John had been running around, playing on the playground and playing with cars and trucks with Danny.
Cole, however, is in cousin heaven. He has two cousins, Brenden and Bryce, 
who are just about his age. They’ve played countless hours of monopoly, magblast, risk and phase 10. Yesterday they broke out the laser tag, and they’ve been shooting each other all hours of the day and night. The three boys were also my landscapers this week, and while Cole mowed the lawn, the other boys sprayed the morning glory, pulled some weeds and dug out two junk trees I needed removed. They’ve gone on bike rides and hikes and they even went horseback riding. Even though Megan is not technically a boy, they’ve allowed her in on a lot of the fun, too. We set up the little pool, 
and had all the kids splashing about and running in and out of the water. Away from home, they’ve enjoyed American Fork canyon, Cabella’s, and the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point. 
Since it was the Museum’s 7th birthday, they had lots of birthday festivities all this week, and even had cake! The kids had a blast.
Of course, no family outing is complete until someone is put on time out, and it’s made even better if there’s an “I hate you” muttered venomously through clenched teeth. So, in this respect, it was a huge success. Here are my two girls on time out at the museum. 
I had to pull them both toward me and make them say two nice things about each other. Notice that I’m the only one smiling. But other than that it’s been a wonderful week. 
We also celebrated another cousin’s birthday last night, so it was even more of a cousin fest.
What fun we’ve had, and we’re so glad to have our family visit!
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