Spring break started out with a small logistics problem. The hybrid battery on Corvin’s car died. The car would drive, but the dash was lit up with about every warning light it has. It was under warranty, but they would not honor the warranty unless the car was in St. Louis. Ultimately, we rented a U-Haul truck and trailer to pull the car back to St. Louis. With gas for the truck, it was about 1/3 the cost of getting a new battery in Wisconsin. With Corvin and Sonora home, this was going to be a wonderful time to have our whole family in the house. As a bonus, Madison was supposed to join us as well.
The kids wasted no time getting time with Coatrack!
As it turned out on Saturday morning, Madison’s plans fell through. Her flight was cancelled in Chicago and she had no way to get to St. Louis. She was distraught.She was looking at getting picked up by family and slowly being shuttled when it was convenient back towards school. Corvin called me and asked if I would help. Without question, I was ready to drive to Chicago with him and pick her up. What’s a 10 hour round trip between friends. Lucky for Madison and us, Emily lives in Chicago. This means that Madison didn’t need to sit alone in the airport waiting for us. Even better, Emily drove Madison half way to St. Louis. Before long, Corvin and I were driving to Bloomfield, IL to a random bar to pick up Madison and thank Emily. We were a few minutes later than expected as we stopped to pick up flowers.
It was an easy and happy drive back to St. Louis to resume spring break. One of our family games is Candy Gambling. Of course I just called it Game Night since Madison had never been there for this before. Basically I go to the store and purchase a bunch of candy. Then I take the candy and use it for betting. When the kids start loosing or the game gets slow, I become the worst card dealer ever. Generally we’re playing Blackjack and I’ll ask if they want to stay or hit while nodding my head to tell them what they should do. We started out with a jar of coins and the kids were having fun. Then when I introduced the candy as payout, they realized what was going on. With one round I was dealing when everybody was probably going to loose, Danelle asked me to turn around and look behind me while swapping cards with the kids so they could win. I could hear the laughing and just played along in “shock” when everybody won and I had to pay out. I always hope the kids come away knowing that you’ll probably loose when gambling, but then I see all the candy wrappers and think I’m just making it worse.
After the game, Corvin and Madison were obsessed with our coin jar. It has a coin counter and they put all the money back through to figure out how much we had.
We went out to the new house construction to enjoy a spring day. The kids all got to see the progress of the build. We also just spent time outdoors with a small fire.
Story time… A few weeks ago, I had concerns that my electric fence was doing its job. Whenever I walk past it for the day, I touch it with the back of my hand to make sure its still working. During the summer with plenty of light (its solar powered), the shock is very spicy! Around February, the shock isn’t that great. I was worried it wasn’t doing what it needed to keep deer out. I sent an email to the manufacturer asking if we needed a bigger battery and/or solar panel. They were kind enough to reply with a phone number and hours when I should call to test it with them on the phone. About a week later, I called when I was out there. I explained my thoughts. The gentleman on the phone asked me to perform some troubleshooting steps and they all passed. I explained my concern and he said it was just fine. Then he had me perform an experiment. He said to put one hand on the ground, then touch the electric fence. I did that and let out quite a yelp when the shock came. He explained that shoes were insulating from the shock and dry ground takes a bit more. I thanked him and explained I was starting to seriously considering peeing on the fence because it wasn’t that powerful. He laughed for about 30 seconds at that thought. I thanked him for the call.
Fast forward to today. I’ve told that story to all the family and they got a good laugh out of it. I’m not sure that Corvin shared the full story with Madison though. Just before the video below, Corvin tried the test, but managed not to yelp and said it wasn’t that bad. What follows below is Madison trying it and what she thought of it.
Then clips of them using the leaf blower on the fire.
I love making new memories with family and this was a great week. I hope you enjoyed the highlights.
Hogan Haake