Fridge update

And a story to add to my most embarassing moments. Well, we got a repairman out here this week and it turns out the fridge/freezer unit was turned off. I was pretty shocked when the guy told me that was the case since I didn't even know you could turn it off. After interviewing all the members of the household we found out that there is one person who did know about the on/off feature of the freezer and that would be Calvin. It turns out that in the freezer (which is on the bottom and perfectly eye level for calvin) if you adjust the temperature down all the way it goes to "off" and this turns off the fridge and freezer completely. So, that is it. our fridge was off for several days, ruined lots of food and then we had to pay a repair man $60 to come turn it back on for us.

I think I will start a running list of these kinds of expenses and then bill Calvin for them later.

First Camping Trip for Calvin

Dave took Calvin camping for one night. They have been talking about it all week saying that on Friday they would have a campfire and sleep in a tent. Calvin has been very excited and I think Dave has too. I think he's been kind of bummed that I don't really like camping. He has always said that when Calvin was potty trained he'd start taking him camping. I am glad they were able to go. The camping place was about one hour away from our house.


This is their little tent.



Dave taught Calvin how to climb on the rocks. I can't believe he went up this high all by himself. He was very careful!






Dave was very proud of his raging fire.




Up at the crack of dawn and look at that cute dirty face!



Calvin led Dave on a little hike. He would look at the map and then say "Ummmm......let's go THIS way!"



Clare and I stayed home and went to a wedding reception and slept in our cozy beds. We would have enjoyed the campfire and outdoor part but much prefer to sleep in the comfort of home.

4 Things About Me

Four (paying) jobs that I have had in my life:

Teacher
Researcher in a Lab
Worked in a Hallmark store
Worked in a clean room at a engineering plant

Four places that I have lived:

Utah
Ohio
San Diego
Chicago (from ages 0-3)

Four places that I have been to on vacation:

NYC
London
Hawaii
Caribbean

Four of my favorite foods:
1. My Mom's birthday cake. Layers of white and chocolate cake with layers of real whipping cream and homemade chocolate frosting. A close second is Jessica's orange cake :)
2. chocolate milk
3. thanksgiving dinner -- homemade rolls and mashed potatoes included
4. souplantation (also called sweet tomatoes in other parts of the country. It is a restaurant. I love the Chinese chicken salad, chicken noodle soup, chili, and tortellini soup)

Four places I would rather be right now:

On vacation without the kids
at souplantation (can you tell it's dinner time?!)
On vacation without the kids or dave -- with some girlfriends instead
Getting my haircut. I am long overdue for that one.

Not so good news

This week our fridge broke. It started on Saturday when I got up and thought the milk was a little warm. Dave and Calvin had already eaten and thought it was fine so I ate too. As the day went on we noticed that the fridge never really turned on and cooled everything off. But, the freezer and ice maker were still running so I thought maybe I was just losing my mind. We moved what food we could into the freezer. Sunday it was working fine. Then Tuesday it truly died. We didn't hear a peep out of the fridge all day and the ice maker and freezer quit too. Most of the food was still cold so we were able to function, sort of. We waited 'til the end of the day to get the receipt and warranty info from my dad (the fridge is only 3 years old and should not die like this). Yesterday I called to make an appointment for a serviceman to come look at the fridge to see if it can be repaired under the warranty and the first available appointment is not for TWO WEEKS! That is ridiculous! How can someone function without a fridge for two weeks (with kids, especially)? So, we've been debating whether we should just wait or go buy a new one. If we buy a new one we may be jumping the gun because what if the fridge can be repaired under warranty for free? If we don't buy a fridge then what if we wait two weeks and the fridge would cost a lot to repair and isn't covered under warranty and then we have to order and wait for delivery of another fridge . . .. We did go fridge shopping last night so we do know exactly what we will get if/when necessary. And the warranty should be better than the one (from Sears) that we are working with now.

Last night I emptied the fridge and the freezer. I threw away two huge black trash bags of food. That was really a bummer. We had just been to COSTCO to stock up on a few things so I was not happy to lose $200 + worth of food. Some of the condiments I kept because I'm not sure if they are okay or not. What do you think about ketchup? Blueberry syrup? Lemon juice?

For now we borrowed a tiny dorm size fridge to help us get buy for the next little while. We can at least keep some milk and yogurt in the house for the kids to eat. So, for now we're just taking it one meal at a time!

Calvin woke up today a little before 4AM. I tried to make him go back to bed but I was too tired to be effective. I think he will be going back to bed soon (it is now 8am). We have a plan to get him re-adjusted to a normal sleep schedule starting tonight. Then he has a couple of weeks to get rested before school starts for him on the 10th of September.

On happier note, today the high is going to be in the low 80's so it is going to be a beautiful, perfect day.

Our first visitors!

We were SO HAPPY that Dave's brother Joe and his family came to visit us. The kids LOVED their cousin Emiley. We went to the Wild Animal Park one day and also enjoyed swimming at home and just hanging out.

Here are the kids taking a bath together after swimming. We kept them in swim suits so there would be a touch of modesty.



This is Emiley. I believe Calvin took this picture. Isn't she cute!?!



Calvin took this self portrait. It shows off his new glasses. Black with green.



Reading curious george together. We never finished the book because the kids were way too excited to be all together.