Parents' Weekend at USC

It was finally time to visit our daughter at USC!  We hadn't seen her in over a month since we dropped her off, and we could hardly wait.

She met us at the welcome reception, and we were all starving.  After grabbing some wonderful Southern food, we enjoyed lots of catching up.  Mommy, Daddy, and the little one couldn't stop hugging her!

The next day we went to a tailgate before the big football game.  Although the weather was drizzle and damp, we enjoyed the food, conversations, and experience.

The little one wasn't too interested in the game, but sure enjoyed the cotton candy.  Our oldest sat in the student section with her friends.

After the game, we looked over the top of the stadium railing and saw this red train.  As we exited, we got a closer look.  These rail cars make up the South Carolina Cockaboose Railroad, and they are beautifully painted train cars that fans rent for parties before & after games.  This would be a really cool business perk or birthday bash!

Our final day was spent hanging out at the dorms, enjoying the food on campus, and playing games.  In her dorm, we all fit under her bed loft on her futon.  The guys had a great time playing with her roommate's play station.

During the trip home, our Little One logged a page in her journal.....There's nothing quite like reading her perpective!

Happy Fall!

It's the first day of fall, and the cooler weather was timed perfectly!  Mornings are wonderful with highs in the 70's.  Nice change from the summer heat.

We celebrated the season by decorating the house and baking an apple pie.  The little one also requested a small blueberry pie.

Giving Blood

After 8 years, I was finally able to give blood again!!  I've just given my 31st gallon, and it felt great.  My hemoglobin was 12.8 and blood pressure 104/60.  Few people would celebrate an occasion like this, but for me, it's confirmation that I'm healthy again.

Daddy/Daughter Dance

A local high school was having a father/daughter dance, so Eric and our little one siezed the opportunity.  

They looked so cute all dressed up.  Daddy took her shopping and let her pick out the dress.  Then Mommy helped her to find some boots.  She wanted to go in the truck.

At the dance, they had lots of games.  One of her favorites is "guess the number of candies in the jar".  With an engineering daddy to help, she correctly guessed the number of starburst.  She is so good at this game!

Breaking Down

Last weekend was an adventure in the McConnell household.  It began a beautiful morning.  I got up around 6am for an event I needed to attend at 7am in Greenville.  Not wanting to wake anyone up, I quietly went out the back door and decided to drive the Cadillac rather than open the garage door for my Kia.

We know the car is old, and it's been pretty good to us ove the years, but we've become accustomed to ignoring the typical warnings that usually go off, like "service suspension system" or "service air bag".  Eric has disabled most of the warning things because they are so complicated and costly to fix.

However, on this 20 minute drive into Greenville on I-85, about halfway there, the warning messages become frequent.  The car now reads:  "service engine" and "coolant level low" with a ding sound each time a new message popped up.  I've seen those occasionally, but I'm almost there.  I will call Eric once I arrive.

Another mile down the road and the dings start going off with the messages increasing in intensity:  "engine trouble", "engine oil hot", "turn off A/C", "engine overheating", "turn car to idle", "engine shutting down".  I freak out, pull to the shoulder of the interstate as far as I can, and turn off the car.  

While waiting on Eric (he had to wake the kids and pile them in to come get me), I watched a contractor truck pull over just beyond where I pulled off.  Two Hispanic men  got out and noticed I was still in the car.  They got back in their truck and drove away.  I later found out they were probably going to strip the car of anything they could:  hudcaps, metals, radio, etc.  Sure didn't take long, but glad they weren't interested in me.

Eric arrived with the kids, a gallon of water, coolant, and a quart of oil.  He topped off all the fluids and started up the car.  Darn Cadillac only made it 2 miles before it overheated again.  We decided at that point to just slowly drive it home a few miles at a time.  Here's a picture of the car at one of it's stopping points...

We had a lot on our agenda that day, and it didn't help to have one vehicle down.  We drove the Kia and mustang to all the other events, stopping occasionally to move the Cadi a little closer to home.

One of the errands was a rental home we are renovating.  The previous renters had two large dogs that were allowed to urinate wherever they wanted.  The carpet was ruined, so it all had to be discarded.  The mustang was too small, so guess whose car got to haul it off?  Yep, mine.  The Kia.  The smell lingered in the Kia well beyond disposal of the filthy carpet.  

Couldn't stand being in the Kia much longer without airing it out, so now driving the mustang.  Stopped at Home Depot to get the Cadi and move it closer to home again (5th segment so far).  However, on this particular stop, the mustang didn't start back up.  Yep, that's twice in one day and now two vehicles down.  Here's a picture from the driver's view.  

I'd had it.  Two cars disabled and the third smelled foul.  That was the last straw, so I finally convinced Eric to buy a truck.  Somehow, Luke seemed to benefit from my misfortunes and saw this as his new vehicle (although he still doesn't have a full license).

By the end of the day, we managed to get the other broken down cars back to the house. Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband who is a well versed mechanic and is able to get the vechilces running again. Hence, we've returned to having 4 vehicles in the driveway while a 5th is at USC.  Nice....

  

Flashcards

Our little one thinks she is too smart for flashcards, but her teacher still assigns them as homework.  One day, I left the flashcards in her room by accident and came home to find her animals studying them!  

Those silly animals!  I guess they are trying to become smart like her.

Position 9

Our son is playing football for the first time in school athletics.  He's a natural athlete, so they put him in a defense position called "9" that can either intercept passes, tackle the receiver, chase down the runner, or charge for a sack.  

His jersey is #8.

The key to this position is reading the play correctly, which can be tricky for a new JV player.  He must be good, though, because he's a starter and plays the entire game when defense is on the field.

He's had a blast so far, and it's been fun watching him play.  I'm actually enjoying the football games now!