This last weekend was a real story-in-the-making.
It all started with our once a month visit to the American Base. We were driving our one-month-old Honda Odyssey. We were excited for the extra space on the ride home since we are always packed full--we have to give a warning to the child riding in back at each turn so they can protect themself from the falling bags or cooler stacked to the roof at their side.
The drive up was normal--we listened to one of Grandma Moss' class reunion CD's, then soundtracks to great movies like Newsies, 7 Brides, and High School Musical (David may not want to admit that one). It is a 2 hour drive.
When we stopped to show our IDs to the soldiers at the entrance of the Base, David thought he saw smoke coming from the hood. He then decided it was something else, but had to quickly reconsider as more smoke emerged and we were all saying we smelled maple syrup (turned out to be antifreeze).
We pulled into the base, put up the hood, called the mechanic shop there, dropped off the car, went to the PX--shopping center. We had to walk in the rain to get there, but it was just drizzling. As the rain got worse and worse outside, we hung out in the store. We ended up there for the next 5 hours. There is a food court, so we ate lunch first and dinner just before we left. It got pretty old in that store. I ended up buying match box cars for the boys to play with and we spent a lot of time in the small furniture section trying out couches, swivel chairs, and occassionally the matress that was set up. I'm sure the man in charge of that area was wondering what in the world we were doing and just how much damage we were going to leave.
David spent much of this time on the phone with the Honda dealership, the Base mechanic shop, tow company, and car rental place. Our radiator was cracked, therefore needed to be replaced. It had to be towed to the Honda dealership--outside of the base--so they could do the repair, but they would have to order the part and wait for the arrival. Honda said they would provide a rental car, but after searching they said they couldn't find one with enough seats for our whole family. Luckily the rental agency on Base had one that would work (a van just like the European one we had sitting at our house--yes, we have 2 vans right now--we are just that cool).
David ran to pick up the rental while we ordered dinner. The rental place is off the Base, so he would catch a shuttle on base that heads there every hour or so. David showed up soon after that to tell me that he had missed the last shuttle by 15 minutes. He would have to wait until the morning.
We got a room in the lodge at the Base. We had to walk there with our purchases. The heavy rain subsided while we ate dinner--so nice. The lodge was a few blocks away. We decided to put away some of our heavier items and buy them the next day so we didn't have to carry them--big box of printer paper, big box of diapers, etc..
We were just glad to be out of the store, and the boys were thrilled to be staying at the hotel. They love being able to watch a movie before bed and cartoons in the morning (doesn't happen at home).
After checking out some movies and settling in, I noticed that Isaac had a mess of a diaper. No problem...problem...no diapers. There were some in the van at the closed mechanics shop miles away, and I had intended to buy that box of diapers earlier (remember?), but ....
Everything closes on the base at 7:00pm, so we were out of luck. We washed him off in the tiny sink with no counter--he didn't like that--and then I folded up one of the snowy white handtowels and positioned it inside of his onsie, snapping it in place--thank heavens for onsies!
Don't you hate going to bed without brushing your teeth (Don't keep tooth brushes in my purse for the off chance of an overnight stay)?
Next morning we woke up bright and early, thanks to our very reliable 1 year old alarm clock. When I went to get him out of the crib, my nose revealed another loaded diaper--only this time is was a towel. I must say that the handtowel/onsie thing really worked. Everything staying inside, and there was a lot of everything.
We decided to roll up the towel in diaper fashion, stick it in a plastic grocery bag, and throw it away. Wasteful, maybe, but I can promise you that the cleaning lady would thank us if she knew. After that Isaac was free and we all enjoyed the cuteness of a naked little baby bum for the next couple hours.
David was out to catch the shuttle at 7:30am. The plan was for him to catch the shuttle, get the rental, grab some diapers (turns out the shopette is open 24 hours--would have been nice to know before 7:00 that morning), drive back, eat breakfast, meet the tow truck, grab a couple things out of our van, go to the grocery store for a few items, and head home. Too bad the shuttle doesn't run on Saturdays. This is what David discovered while he was waiting for said shuttle. Luckily he was feeling humble and ready to ask for assistence, and there was a military police officer just waiting in his car. David asked and was driven to the rental place and the rest of the morning went as planned.
When Gabe got into the rental car he was very impressed with the interior (our twin van has non-soft leather seats and this one didn't). He excitedly exclaimed, "Adam, feel how soft our new car is!"
Now, the boys had been so excited to watch a DVD on the way home from the base in our new van--they have never seen a movie in that car because we are only going to use it for long trips. Before we left, I had agreed that they would be allowed to watch one on the way home. Well, we weren't driving that van, and since I knew this, that morning I had purchased a new book on CD. It came with the novel, and I figured it would have to do.
They were excited to hear it, but the CD player didn't work because the stereo in the rental needed a code, and the agency didn't know what it was. Luckily the book was there too, so I prayed not to get car sick and began reading it to them myself. The book was a simplified version of the story, A Little Princess. Yes, I have all boys and this sounds fufy--David hadn't heard of it and was expecting a Barbie story (I admit to having purchased Barbie's 12 dancing princesses this Christmas for the boys and I to enjoy--and they did), but if you know the story, it is wonderful for all sexes and ages. David loved it! My voice and stomach held out and we finished it 20 minutes before we got home. It was perfect.
It was now Saturday afternoon and David had to eat and rush out to get to a priesthood meeting in Rimini that was to last until 8:30 that night. He would return the rental in Rimini and get a ride home with the District President after the meetings.
It was a long afternoon for the boys and I, we were all a bit grumpy, but we survived. The boys were asleep and I was organizing pictures on the computer when David arrived home. He walked over to me, kissed me, put down the van key and exclaimed, "NO!" I looked to see the white rental company sticker on the back of the key. Remember that the van we rented was the same kind as ours here at home. They have an interesting card key--exacly the same, except for the sticker. The key Davied had returned with the rental was the key to our own van. I had to try not to laugh because David hadn't yet reached the point where one sees the humor in it all (if I had to go make the exchange I probably woudn't have found the funny either). He decided that he would figure it all out Sunday or Monday. Luckily we still had my key to our van so we could head to church the next morning.
Sunday morning we woke up nice and early and all got ready in great timing. We were going to be able to pick up Sister Muca and get to church on time, yeah! Eli and Gabe both had talks which were mostly prepared--just needed to translate Eli's into Italian on the way to church.
The boys loaded into the van, I ran back into the house to get a blanket for Isaac, ran out, shut and locked the garage, and was heading to my place in the van when David asked, "Did you grab my church bag?" "Oh. No. Sorry." "Did you get the keys to the garage?"...silence...
Yup, we were locked out of our house. We couldn't even go to church because we have to have the keys or push a button inside the house to open the gate to our driveway. We checked all the house windows and doors, but all was secure. David did his best to break in without causing serious damage, but couldn't do it (somewhat comforting, I must say). All was funny to me now, but David still wasn't ready for the laughs, so he didn't appreciate the photos being taken of his trial(yes, I did have my camera).
After about an hour David faced humility once again and called the landlord's gardener who happened to have a key to our garage. He came and opened it, and we were off (after promising ourselves to hide a key outside just in case this ever happened again).
We stayed at the church for 3 extra hours to make up for the 1 hour late, and Monday David exchanged the keys with the rental company.
Life is fun!
As I helped him dry off and get dressed he said, "Mom, why do I feel so warm?"
Sure do love that silly, sweet boy!
* January 2000--we moved across the United States to Connecticut (my first time being so far away from my family). This was a challenge for me—I cried the whole plane-ride out. 
Isaac just had to experiment to find out if the brown stuff tastes as good as it looks. 
This is the stuff every little boys memories should be made of--though I'm not necessarily going to okay it for every walk we take. 
This picture looks simple enough, but it was taken in one of those moments. Things weren't perfect: Eli is sick; the book Gabriel is examining is one from the top shelf about "our changing bodies"--not my first pick for him just yet; Isaac is about to trip over Adam. It is my life and I do love it!