New Car

We are officially a minivan family!

With another baby on the way and me really wanting trunk space for things like our double jogging stroller, a minivan was our best option.  When we searched, there are some SUVs that have a third row and a trunk, but not many and they are huge (and get like 10 mpg).  We have such large (and hopefully safe) carseats, that there is no way to fit 3 across in most SUVs as well.

Over the last few months, we test drove the Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.  The car we ended up liking the best was a Toyota Sienna.  It drove the smoothest (was the quietest) and I like the third row in it better than the Honda (the Honda was so dark and felt small).  Plus my last car was a Toyota RAV4 so I think I felt a little biased when it felt similar.  I LOVED my RAV4 and was so sad to give it up.  Even though the boys are so excited about the minivan, Carter has been saying he misses it too.  He even gave it a kiss and told it good-bye.

The Sienna we got ended up coming from Alabama.  On Thursday I went to the TrueCar website and put in zip codes within a 2 hour drive of Nashville to see who had the best price for an XLE Sienna (the XLE is one step down from the very top trim level and we did not want an entertainment package - we prefer to put the DVD players in the car only for long trips).  TrueCar is supposed to give you a certificate that you can take to a specific dealer and they will honor that price.  The price you are given is supposed to be the average price that buyers pay for that specific car at a specific trim level.  We used this as a starting place for who to call/email to start the internet buying process.  Almost all dealerships have an internet sales department now and that's actually how I bought my RAV4.  I did everything through email and got the car in Nashville while we were still living in Knoxville.

TrueCar will give you the prices for any zip code you put in, but to get the official certificates, you then have to put in all your contact information.  We ended up doing that for Nashville and for Huntsville, AL.  So all the dealers in those areas got my information and started calling me within the hour.  We picked Huntsville because we were getting a quote that was about $2,000 less than anywhere else.

I got a call pretty early from a dealer in Scottsboro, AL (about 45 minutes east of Huntsville) which was the one with the best TrueCar price.  He had a Sienna in the color we wanted (Predawn Gray Mica with light gray leather interior).  It had a few options we didn't really need (like remote start and crossbar), but the price was still amazing.  He gave us a reasonable offer for my RAV4 as a trade-in and then even offered to deliver the car to our house.  I wondered why he was giving us such a good deal and he said he is at a small dealership in a small town and wasn't going to be able to sell that type of minivan.  I told him we needed a few hours to think about and he didn't give me any normal salesman hassle.

I spent the next few hours talking to and emailing all sorts of salesmen at different dealers and trying to get their best prices.  I give a few of them the quote I had to see if they could compete.  One guy told me to break the speed limit getting to that deal and another essentially threw a hissy fit ranting about other dealerships and their messed up practices, etc, etc.  Over lunch Brian took the RAV4 to Carmax to see what they would offer us (which was a little more but when you factored in not having to pay sales tax on the trade-in amount and the cost of driving to Alabama since the free delivery required a trade-in, it was almost a wash).

So just after lunch we committed to the dealer in Scottsboro.  It was a little scary considered I only spoke with the salesman for about a total of 10 minutes over a few phone calls.  But we set up for their driver to meet us at Brian's office yesterday at 12:30 pm with the new car.

Amazingly, it all went smoothly.  We signed all the paperwork in the parking lot.  There were no surprises with the numbers and we wrote a check for the car since we were paying cash.  After about 30 minutes, the driver left with our RAV4 and we had our new Sienna!  It was a quick and painless process and I really feel like we got a good deal.

Now I just have to convince these two that they don't have to snack while in the car :)

I think this guy is already comfortable in the new car :)

Slip 'n Slide

I pulled out our slip 'n slide for the first time in 4 years.  I have no idea why I haven't gotten it out before other than it was tucked into the corner of the garage and I just never thought of it.

I managed to get the entire backyard mowed yesterday morning while the boys improved their "slide".  They were pretty good after all their practice.  Especially since when we started Rylan would just go to his knees at the beginning and flop on his belly and then need me to push him down the slip 'n slide!

Swim Lesson Videos

The boys barely got in swim lessons today around scattered thunderstorms - we were lucky to have them just miss us.

Both boys did great.  There was no complaining before lessons by Rylan this time.  And he willingly walked away from me and to the pool steps!  Carter of course was excited and ready to go.

The boys pretty much did the same things they did yesterday, just more practice with it.  They tried to move Rylan to Carter's small group but he didn't want to jump in the pool or get his face wet still so he got moved back to the youngest group that practices survival - floating on their backs and turning to their backs when they fall in.

At the end of class, they had the kids jump off the diving board again.  Carter had to then swim, and Rylan had to turn to his back.  Rylan actually did it on his second try too!  Here are videos of the boys' jumps!

Carter's first jump:

Carter's second jump:

Rylan's first jump:

Rylan's second jump:

15 Week, 6 Day Appointment

I had another doctor's appointment last Thursday.  Since this was my 16 week appointment, it was a really short and uneventful appointment.

My doctor was doing an emergency c-section so I saw the nurse practitioner instead.  My blood pressure was more normal this time 108/60 and I've noticed that I don't get so dizzy when standing up anymore (it's more occasional than all the time).  I'm up to 133 lbs so I've officially gained 8 lbs so far (5 lbs in the last month).  The nurse practitioner checked the baby's heartbeat and it was in the 140s.  No ultrasound this time but I have the big ultrasound appointment at 20 weeks when they check and measure everything with the baby and we get to find out if we are having a boy or girl.

I'm feeling a lot better than I had a few weeks ago but I still don't feel amazing.  Late afternoon and evening are my hardest time with nausea and not being able to eat.  But it's really much better than before!

Swim Lessons

The kids are taking swim lessons for the first time this year.  This is something I would have done earlier but we haven't belonged to a pool the last two summers and ended up only going occasionally when friends invited us to their neighborhood pools.  This summer though we are planning on joining the YMCA so we can swim whenever we want.

The boys are taking lessons at Sweetman Swim School.  I have several friends who have done lessons here before and swear they are the best they've ever done.  The class is 5 days in a row for one hour a day.  Mr. Gareth (the main instructor) is not a sweet, loving, easy-going guy.  He is more of a tough-love kind of guy who doesn't care if the kids love him - he wants to teach them how to swim.  But at the same time, he really isn't a bad guy and everyone says their kids really like him by the end of the week.  With Rylan being as stubborn as he is, I felt that this is what he needed.  I was worried that anywhere else, the instructor would allow Rylan not to do the parts of the lesson he didn't want to do.  Swim lessons are way too expensive to not learn how to actually swim!

Neither Carter nor Rylan was overly excited about swim lessons.  The one time we've been swimming this year, Carter didn't use any sort of flotation but he only swam about 10 feet at a time and wasn't a fan still of putting his head in the water.  Rylan HATES putting his head in the water.  He still cries every night during bath when he gets water on his face.  Plus he's always used flotation (last year was a puddle jumper).  Rylan did not like the idea of not getting to use that.

The boys' first lesson was yesterday afternoon.  We are doing lessons with Suzy's kids (who have been taking lessons from Sweetman's for a few years) so that helped my boys be a little more comfortable because they all just like seeing one another.

The lessons are at a Mr. Gareth's home.  He has an enclosed patio he likes the parents of the new kids to stay in the first day because a lot of them get a little upset and it's better for them not to see us.  I agree!  Rylan didn't really want to let go of me but I handed him off and walked away.  He was fine within a couple of seconds.  Carter was excited to just go in the pool.

I was able to see a little bit of the lesson from my "hiding spot".  Both boys learned how to float on their backs unassisted.  Carter mastered "falling" into the pool and flipping over to his back.  I'm not sure Rylan got to try that.  They both went under the water some (I'm sure Rylan was forced though).  I never noticed any crying though I might have missed it.

When the lesson was done, Rylan was happy because he thought he was done and didn't have to go back.  He was not looking forward to today's lesson.  Carter said it was a little scary and a lot fun.  He was actually really excited about lessons today.  I kept trying to get him to stop talking about it though because it kept upsetting Rylan!

Today I ended up sitting in a gazebo with Suzy where I was partially hidden but could see most of the lesson.  There are 10 kids in the lesson with 5 instructors.  Today Carter and Rylan were in separate small groups since Carter is obviously more willing to try things than Rylan.  I had to rip Rylan off of me and there were a few more tears than yesterday, but he was fine as long as he didn't have to go under the water.  There was a bit of wimping when that happened but no melt downs.

Carter on the other hand did great.  His group worked on jumping in the pool and swimming to an instructor.  During the swim they had to lift their heads up and breathe.

At the end of class all the kids had to jump off the diving board.  Rylan was expected to flip over onto his back.  He didn't actually jump in - an instructor lifted him off the diving board and dropped him in.  He didn't flip over after a second or two so another instructor helped him do it.  He was trying though.

I took a video of Carter's jump since it was the end of class and Rylan was already done (and I could come out of "hiding").  He's doing great for only being his second day of lessons!

I can't wait to see where the kids are by the end of the week.  I'm sure Rylan will not want to go to lessons again tomorrow, but we survived today without him getting too upset before and during the lesson and I hope tomorrow is the same way!!!

Saturday Morning

Yesterday morning I took the kids out for a little bit so Brian could get a little work done.  Our first stop was the Strawberry Festival at the Franklin Farmers Market.

When we got there we saw Ms. Lisa who runs the gardening class the boys are in.  I believe she is one of the main organizers of the Farmers Market.  Next we visited the petting zoo.  We get to met goats at the Nashville Zoo but they also had chickens, ducks, and rabbits in this enclosure.

Next we walked through the market a little bit to see what we might want to get.  We ended up with exactly the things I thought we'd get.  A quart of strawberries and an extra large bag of kettle corn.

We sat at the picnic tables and listened to some bluegrass music for a bit while we snacked.  Rylan ate all but a few of this quart of strawberries!  They were very yummy though and a million times better than most of the grocery store strawberries we get.  They were completely red inside instead of a lot of white.

Carter put a pretty good dent into the bag of kettle corn.  The kettle corn at the farmers market is better than any we get anywhere else.  Rylan tried a few pieces and said, "It's the bestest thing in the whole world!"

Next we stopped at the grocery store to get some food for a party our neighbors were having last night and then we went over to Liberty Park which is on our way home.  It has been several months since we'd done any letterboxing, and during that time, three new letterboxes had been placed at the park.

All three letter boxes were on the disc golf course.

The course seems really nice with some huge hills.  Only thing better would be if it were mountain bike trails instead :)

We actually found all three letterboxes as well.  Carter even found the last one when I reread the clue to him and he decided I was looking by the wrong rock and pointed me to the correct one!

And I managed to be the only one to pick up any ticks (two to be exact).  Carter and Brian are the two they tend to jump on the most.

I've already bought most of the supplies so maybe we'll hide a letterbox ourselves this summer!

Big Bugs

This summer Cheekwood has a new exhibit called "Big Bugs", designed by David Rogers.  Throughout the gardens there are several very large bugs to view.  In addition, two interactive bugs were installed (by people who designed the treehouses two years ago) for kids to play on.

We went to Cheekwood on Friday to see the bugs, the first day the exhibit was open.  We met a bunch of our friends there - Missy, Suzy, Ashley, Jen, & Heather and all their kids.  In all, I think we had 16 kids.  We really do look like a preschool or daycare sometimes with all our kids!

We started the day off with the interactive Butterfly Experience.  The structure is a caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly.  The kids had a lot of fun climbing all over it.

I had to share these two pictures to show off the silly look on Rylan's face ...

A group shot with about half the kids that met up with us:

Carter figured out a way to climb onto of the caterpillar's head.

Praying Mantis:

This cool structure isn't part of the bugs exhibit but is still really neat.  It's called "Little Bitty Pretty One" and was created by this year's artist-in-residence.  You can walk through it however the kids just passed it by on their way to another bug!

This turtle held their interest though.

He took a 1 1/2 foot dive off the rocks into the pond which was pretty cool.

Dragonfly:

Taking a water break (it was hot again) ...

Will, Carter, Chase, Rylan, Riley, Dowden, and Hannah in front of the Lady Bug.

I told them all that the lady bug was moving and going to get them :)

Spider:

Damselfly:

Ants:

Assassin Bug:

Overall the exhibit is pretty cool and the kids are especially glad that some interactive play bugs were added to the exhibit.  I'm sure we will be visiting Cheekwood a lot more soon since their Family Night Out program on Thursday evenings starts in a few weeks.

Water Day

Carter's teacher really wanted to make the kids' last day of school really special.  I believe that all but one of the kids is going to kindergarten next year, and since we don't do a graduation ceremony or anything, she thought it would be great to have a fun day that they'd remember.

So Ms. Denise planned a water day for the kids.  A couple of moms and I provided a bunch of small pools, water toys, and sprinklers and set everything up in a grassy area outside of the school.  It was a warm, sunny day with a good breeze making it a perfect day for a water day.

Quinn, Molli, Lacie, & Annalane:

Hunt & Campbell:

As part of her end-of-year gift to the kids, Ms. Denise gave all the kids a beach ball.  We only had to chase a few across the parking lot when the breeze took them away :)

Sadie Mae (this was Carter's "girlfriend" last year who he married on the playground - he gets super embarrassed when we talk about it though!):

Sarah Kate (when we ask Carter if he has a girlfriend, this is who he now singles out):

How many kids can you fit into an extra-small baby pool (Carter, Quinn, Lacie, Molli, & Annalane):

Annalane's mom had the most popular sprinkler of all - this hopscotch mat.  The water pressure was really strong coming out of the building so the water sprayed super high out of the mat!

Carter attempted backward jumps to try to keep the water out of his face.

Ms. Denise also had popsicles for the kids.  We attempted a group shot (we had one little girl missing because she was sick on the last day).

We spent the last 1 1/2 hours outside that afternoon.  The kids had a blast and I'm so glad Ms. Denise did something special for them on the last day!

Rylan's class had a much more normal day (except they had pizza and ice cream for lunch like most of the school).

Both boys also got some fun summer toys from their teachers that they've already been enjoying.

From Ms. Denise:

Quinn always gives the class a little gift at the end of the year too:

Rylan got this from Ms. Linda & Ms. Cynthia:

DinoTrek

We met Suzy and all her kiddos at the zoo yesterday.  Since neither of us had done it yet, we decided to do the DinoTrek.

A similar exhibit was at the zoo last summer as well but we'd been cheap so far and always skipped it (it's $3 per person).  I think there are 15 animated dinosaurs (two even spit water) along a wooded trail.

There was one at the beginning the kids could climb on.  Notice how wet my kids hair is?  We played at the playground for about 1 1/2 hours before doing the DinoTrek and it was HOT.  They were completely soaked through.  Here is Riley, Chase, Carter, and Rylan ...

I told the kids to make scared faces :)

This one eating a fish was one of my favorites.

The kids stayed by each dinosaur for a few seconds before moving on.  I kept telling them to slow down and actually look at the dinosaurs - it's not like it was free :)  Hutch (who is 2 1/2) was the only one to take his time!

We finally slowed them down at the very last dinosaur and got a group picture with the t-rex.

I think we spent a total of 4 hours at the zoo yesterday.  It wore us out!!!