Threes

Do things really come in threes?  I'm never sure if I should put any credence in that notion.  Even so, it is kind of a relief when the "third thing happens" and gives some closure.  With that firmly in mind I have had three somewhat expensive items needing repair recently.  Sigh.

Way back in November the dishwasher broke down.  After the initial diagnosis it took three more visits to put it right.  It chose to break down just prior to each of three holiday weekends with house guests coming.  The initial breakdown took place a day or so before Thanksgiving weekend, at which we had six staying guests plus two more for a couple of large holiday meals.  After about two weeks the dishwasher finally received a new pump.  The second time it broke down was a couple of days before Christmas....more house guests and big meals.  The third time was last week right before our house guests showed up for President's Day weekend.  Just like kids and dogs.  Only on holidays and weekends.  Sheesh!

Next was the car.  Red has had a transmission transplant.  'Nuff said.

Third was a garage door.  Pay attention now.  Listen to me.  Go out and look at your garage door springs.  If your house is old enough (ours is 26 years) there will most likely not be safety cables inside the springs, something that is now required (in North Carolina anyway).  I was standing in the garage by the kitchen door one day last week when one of the big door springs snapped.  What a crashing and banging!  Lucky for me it snapped at the end over my head and shot away from me, hitting the front wall of the garage.  I was pretty shaken at the time but the next day the repair person really freaked me out when he told us he's seen them go through cars and even through walls into the house.  YIKES!  Needless to say both doors are now up to code and I'm not afraid to go out into the garage anymore.

On to the fun stuff.  Good threes.  :-)  We had three visitors this weekend.  The Sailor Son with Five and Batman.  I wanted to take new photos of their smiling faces for the side bar.  For some reason it's harder to get a natural smile out of them these days.  Aren't they a hoot!

Batman arrived wearing one glove, a la Michael Jackson.  According to their father there is a serious glove fetish going on at the moment.  Since they kept trying to take my gloves we made a quick stop at Five Below for gloves of their own.  These were two layers, fingerless gloves over fingered ones.  They were soooo happy.  Makes it very hard to play with one's Lego, though they tried.

And there was lots of Lego-ing.  Three Lego creations.  Batman's castle...

and my "vehicle."  Five didn't allow me to take a picture of his.

Despite the weather....yes it snowed!....

we ventured out to three shows at the State Fairgrounds.  First was the car show.  Big crowds even with the weather.  Almost never have I seen more excitement!  It's a whole different experience with a four and a five year old.  We did "webs" with Spiderman.  (Cell phone pics.  I forgot my camera darn it.)

While the boys kept my head spinning, The Tramp and the Sailor Son mostly tested out the pickup trucks.  You can see he is surprised the little Fiat Bambina seems to be a viable commuter car.  Though when The Tramp jacked the seat up to the highest position he could have literally driven with his head out the sun roof.  I missed that Kodak moment.  Darn!

The little boys "drove" as many cars as they could get a turn in.  Every steering wheel was turned, every button pushed, every lever tested and when you are small your feet are always on the seats.  After four days of excited children....to say nothing of the adults, some of these cars must need a quite an overhaul to be sale-able again.

When we weren't running from car to car we were....well....running!

The Geico gecko was exciting too.  Note they are each wearing one of my gloves.  :-)

Especially the giant one.  :-)

The second show was the classic car show.  Much more interesting to The Tramp and I than the younger set.

The third show of the weekend was the train show.  There were tables and tables of stuff for serious railroad modelers which Dad really enjoyed.  The boys and I contentedly watched the garden railroads go round and round.

We also went to visit Nanny and Papa and had a great time "writing receipts" for them.  There was also a serious game of detective.  Nanny told them she needed 18 green beads for her latest project and the 18th bead was missing.  They searched every inch of the apartment with a flashlight for "18 green"  and only gave up when they found two white beads we had quickly planted when they were searching one of the bathrooms.  Great fun for all of us!

I know this has gotten pretty long but one more thing to share.  We have a ghost car!  Four dry spots on the wet driveway.  We had a ghost car in New Jersey too.  (this link)  I wonder if it's the same ghost?

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  T-shirt quilts will be going out the door tomorrow!