Weekend Excursion

The Check Engine light came on in my car again. At least this time it had the charity to not come on right as the inspection sticker expired (like it did last year). So I had the opportunity to wait a couple weeks before I took in it for an oil change. It was the same problem as last time: a faulty oxygen sensor. Luckily the one we just replaced was under warranty so we didn't have to fork over another large chunk of change to have them replace it. Which really ticks me off because the freaking most expensive sensor costs a little over a hundred bucks online. Maybe I ought to take an auto mechanics course, then I can rip people off for hundreds of dollars in labor.

Next time that light comes on I'm going to disconnect it.

Maggie called and told me that she and Beth and all the kids were going to Mom and Dad's on Saturday and there was going to be a potluck cookout there as well. Happily the car got fixed in the nick of time so we were able to go. Papaw's house is Henry's absolute favorite place. They have a pond with ducks and kayaks, a giant tree with enough swings in it for every grandkid, trails through the woods, and best of all, cousins right down the road. After the cookout Ben and I set up a tent and we spent the night with Henry beside the pond.

Before we left I asked Henry if he needed to use the bathroom. He said no. Then after we got settled in our sleeping bags came the inevitable, "I have to pee."

"Go outside and pee in the woods."

Henry took about two steps from the tent.

"No, over by the woods."

Finally Ben shined the flashlight on a spot far enough away from the tent and told him to pee on the light.

Then as he's peeing he asks, "What's that smoke?"

"It's steam," Ben answers.

For at least a half hour after we laid down Henry kept asking a million questions.

"What's that sound?"

"Frogs."

"What's that sound?"

"Bullfrogs."

"What's that sound?"

"Crickets."

"What's that sound?"

"Barking dogs."

"What's that sound?"

"An owl."

"What's that sound?"

"Daddy snoring."

After Henry fell asleep I laid awake awhile. It seemed the frogs and crickets and dogs and owl were going to keep it up all night. Especially the dogs. I figured that some puppies must have gotten stolen or something because the twilight bark went on and on and on. Either that or a raccoon was taunting them from a tree. Finally I fell asleep and woke at dawn to an alarm of a million chirping birds, frogs, bull frogs, and the twelve dozen roosters at the chicken farm across the road.

I love camping. It's so easy for me to get up in the morning. I went back to the house with Henry for breakfast. Then we all got ready and then went to church. At church there was a family who used to be in our ward in Cary. I asked Mom if they had moved into the ward but she didn't know. Turns out they were just visiting. They told us they'd just seen a couple that reminded them of us, a tall guy and a short dark haired chick (we actually met that couple at the cookout) and said to each other, "Wow, they look like the Tilleys," and then we walked in right after. It is weird finding out you have doppelgangers out there. I have a feeling we're the evil version, though.

Henry, true to form, screeched bloody murder when it was time to go home. The good side to having to listen to Henry scream, "I don't want to go!" four million times is that it wears him out so well he sleeps for the rest of the ride home. Unfortunately when he woke upon our arrival home, he remembered quite well that he hadn't wanted to leave Papaw's house and commenced pitching another fit.

Good times.