We had one of those dreaded experiences yesterday- the car broke down on the side of the highway, with the whole family (including the dog) in it. We had been up to visit Benita and Cam and family and were about an hour from their place and about an half and a half from home when the car lost power going up a hill. Troy pulled over and despite waiting five minutes and crossing our fingers, the car wouldn’t start again. So we called the RACV and then pretty much just waited.
It took nearly an hour for the RACV guy to get there, and then my hopes were raised when he got the car started again. It sounded like it was revving okay, but it had no acceleration at all so for all intents and purposes it was dead. Not the greatest situation to be in on a Sunday evening! It was going to be wildly inconvenient for anyone to help us, but it was only someone with a seven-seater car who would be able to transport us anyway. And our usual go-to people for these kind of emergencies, Troy’s parents, are currently in Western Australia somewhere. So Troy called his brother Brett, who fortunately was not busy and was able to get in the Prado and head out to get us.
The RACV guy organised a tow for the van, which I was just really hoping wouldn’t come until after we’d been picked up. Waiting on the side of the road in the car was one thing, waiting on the side of the road in the dark and cold and dew would have been quite another. Luckily Brett showed up at 7.08 (I remember the exact time because we were running a betting pool on what time he would come- Emma won) so we just had to leave the car on the side of the road and go on our way home. We got home about quarter past nine, about twelve hours after we left…it was a pretty long day.
I have to say though, the kids were SO GOOD. I mean, that was three hours stuck on the side of the road and they could have made it a complete nightmare, but they really didn’t. Nicholai had his e-reader for a little while (the battery ran flat) and apart from that all they had between them was two Diary of a Wimpy Kid books that Emma and Jericho had both read on the way up to Ballarat and Soren’s Minecraft book. That’s all. And yet there was an astonishing lack of whining and complaining. Trust me, my children have never been described as stoic, but that’s basically what they were.
Jericho and Soren got out of the car for a little while when a small herd of ponies came over to us (they were so adorable) but playing on the side of a freeway isn’t such a great idea so they were mostly all stuck in the car. The kids kind of crawled around and talked to each other and tested out each others’ seats for which one was comfiest to lie on. Then Jericho adjusted a game he’d read in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book about asking questions so that the kids asked Troy and I questions of the ‘have you ever done X?’ kind of variety and if we had we scored a point. I’m still not clear on the scoring system but somehow I won and the kids thought the game was brilliant. We’d brought the leftover bread rolls home from Benita’s place and I let the kids eat those. I warned them that we had no water and so they were not to ask or moan about being thirsty, and they actually didn’t. Admittedly Soren asked if he could drink the dog water, but when I said no he just accepted that as an answer. Really, I was so SO pleased with the kids, the behaved admirably in what was a pretty sucky situation.
I behaved nicely too. Only one moment when I nearly burst into tears, but I got a lot of knitting done and kept the children’s spirits up as best I could, so that was okay.
We still don’t know what’s wrong with the car though. Troy rang the garage it was towed to today, but they hadn’t had a chance to have a look at it yet. They thought maybe this afternoon, so Troy will call them tomorrow and hopefully they’ll be able to tell us what the problem is and how long it’s going to take to fix it.
It was such a pity that the day ended so badly, because it was a really nice visit to Benita and Cam’s place! It was lovely to meet new baby Dempsey and hang out for a while. Lee and Muts were there as well with their kids, so all the cousins played together. That’s always so cute to see- Soren and Kareem are nearly the same age so they were playing together and Emma is just a wonderful big cousin to all the little girl cousins.
It feels weird sometimes though, because my kids are older and our family is in a different kind of place. The others are in the middle of babies and pre-schoolers and preps, and we’re done with that and dealing with high school and big kids. Soren’s only in grade one, but he’s our youngest, not our oldest. Sometimes I’m kind of jealous that the others are all doing it together and I feel like the odd one out. It would be really nice to talk to others doing the same thing at the same time.
At the same time, I am really glad my family is in the place we are now. It’s really amazing to watch my kids get so big and so much more fully their own people. I appreciate their growing independence- two years from now Emma is going to be nearly fourteen and will be quite capable of being in charge of an eight year old Soren and eleven year old Jericho for an hour or two while Troy and I do the shopping together or go to a movie or out for lunch. And with the rate time is flying by, two years is going to be here in no time at all.
Soren held him and told me, “He’s so cute and tiny!”
Sullivan and Nicholai playing hairdressers.
Sullivan, Emma, Winnie, Jericho, Soren and Nicholai.
Big cousin and little cousin.
Boys going exploring.
This photo cracks me up. He’s actually standing in a hole, but it just looks hilarious to have his head on the ground like that!
Stuck on the side of the road.
One of the cute little ponies that came over to say hi.
Feeling the Sun From Both Sides 