If It's Broke...Fix It

Last weekend, Jeremy and I had plans to attend my cousin's college graduation party in the afternoon, but we thought we would take the girls to Plum Island Beach in the morning before all the beach goers arrived.  Halfway there, we realized that either of us did not have any cash on us to pay for the parking fee.  So we stopped at an ATM.  When Jeremy got back into the car, the car did not want to start.  Thankfully we were broken down in a parking lot with a CVS, so we purchased some jumper cables and found someone to jump the car. 

The jumper cables didn't work

Thankfully we were walking distance from a Mobil gas station down the street.  So we ventured on over to see if they could help us out.  The Mobil staff was very kind and let us hang around in their lobby while they called a Napa Auto Parts to have a brand new battery delivered to us, and we walked it back to the car.  Jeremy went right to work and exchanged the old battery for the new one.  I turned the key.

The car still didn't start.

So we made another trip to the Mobil station with heavy car batteries and two Madore-ables in tow.  They were in great spirits the entire time.  In fact, we had some great conversations on why we thought the car wasn't working.  Samantha thought it was because we ran out of gas.  We told her that it couldn't be because we filled up our tank just before we broke down.  Sarah thought it was because the car was just tired and didn't feel like working.  All very good explanations to a 5 and a 3-1/2 year old.  So we hung out at the Mobil station.  We talked to the cool and patient attendants.  The girls loved the owner and were asking her questions.  Everyone just seemed to be friendly and the girls were just so easily entertained.  While the girls were entertained, Jeremy put some phone calls in to his brothers and was able to determine that it wasn't the battery.

It was the starter.

So we made a phone call to my Mom who came to rescue us.  The CVS was ok with us leaving our car in their parking lot over night, and we were able to carry on with our plans that day.  The following day, we trekked down to the car at the CVS which was still parked and then we remembered something:

It was Yankee Homecoming Day and we were in the middle of the parade route.

Fantastic.  Nothing like trying to solve a problem with added pressure or anything.  So, we managed to get the car started by Jeremy tapping on the starter a couple times with a wrench and we were able to drive it on over to the Napa Auto Parts store without being tangled in the route of the parade.

So while Jeremy changed the starter in the parking lot of Napa Auto Parts, I entertained the girls.  Here are some of the events that unfolded:

The girls made sure that baby was safe in the car seat before they did anything.

So responsible!

We played "Go Fish"

We took some time to look at the clouds flying by and feel the sun on our piggies.

"Mommy?  Let's take pictures together"

"Let's be silly Mommy!"

"Let's play some songs on your iPod Mommy!"