Good news and fun

We found our car! We'd been hunting and hunting and researching and researching online for six weeks and finally yesterday, we bought this little number:

Its a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. It has the captain's seats and the Stow N Go seating for all the back seats, a DVD player (we let the kids test it out last night, and it was the quietest ride home. Ever.) Its got brand new tires and has been through the full inspection, new fluids all that that dealers do, and we got it for a great price, plus we have a 36,000 mile warranty on it (which is good, because it does have over 90,000 miles on it). Best part of all, it is 100% paid for. The kids love it, of course, since they have been pretty squished in the back of our Accord the last two years. We took it for a longish drive today and it accelerates pretty nicely (this model has the largest engine available in the Caravan) and handles well. It is sssoooo much more comfortable for me to sit in than the car is right now (when not pregnant I can sit in just about any car for any length of time without much trouble at all--I'm pretty easy to accommodate--but right now I hate riding in the car). Its nice to be able to bring our pooch along with us (especially since she has attachment issues--I swear, we leave for an hour and she acts like we've been gone for days!)--today she snuggled up next to Kylie for most of the trip. And Kylie, of course, was trying to hug her and exclaiming, "Ginger love me!!" She doesn't ever remember not having Ginger, so they're pretty tight.

This next week Doug starts work (he'll be working part time while finishing his project for his Master's Degree and job hunting), and he'll mostly be working weekends and holidays, so we seized the opportunity of a day off on Monday to get out together, all 5 us. Between work and the baby, that probably won't be happening much in the coming months. All our kids love to go geo-cacheing (if you haven't tried it, do! Its a great modern version of a scavenger hunt, and you can do it any time!), even Kylie who has now figured out what it is (more or less). So we hunted and hunted, and they had to show off the little prize they got (its a pin with acorns on it that says, "You don't have to be nuts to cache. . .but it helps!" This particular cache was hidden by a woman that uses the tag "Nut Lady"). Aren't these guys a cute crew?