Princeton or Bust! How about Bust?

We've lived here almost three years, Princeton University is one hour away, and we have yet to check it out. It's driving me a bit nuts. I have a list of things I want to see in New Jersey/NYC, and Princeton is at the tippy top of the list. And yet, here we are.

So I marked this past Saturday on the calendar several weeks ago as "Princeton Day". I figured out where to park, what to see, and even had a recommendation for "the best ice cream ever" near the campus. I don't know if this person has ever been to Last Licks, so I'm skeptical. And yet willing to try.

True to Doug Beck form, I had an exact time I wanted to pull out of the driveway. Twelve noon. We all went to the YMCA that morning so Dan and I could work out, we came home and fed everyone a huge lunch, cleaned up and were pulling out of the driveway at 11:56. I felt AMAZING. Promptness fuels my soul.

I rarely fuel my soul.

The "low pressure" light came up on the dash, and we made a quick stop to fill up the tires. You know me--I'm a nervous gal, and I asked Dan if he would do it. He said he would but wanted me to get out and watch because it's REALLY not a big deal and something I should be able to do.

So I got out and watched.

Poor Dan. The nozzle on our tire BROKE, and the tire was flat in about 30 seconds.

Of course, the first thing he said to me was, "Okay, Heather, this NEVER happens and you can do this!" And I looked at him like he was crazy town.

The kids took the news worse than I. I was bummed about Princeton being bumped yet another week on the schedule, but they were very upset that ice cream had been bumped. Gwen bawled and bawled.

We were about a half mile from home, so I got out the double stroller, strapped the boys in, and the girls and I walked and pushed the boys home while Dan changed the tire and took the bad one to get fixed.

Gwen had brought this awful blow-up guitar from Chuck E. Cheese in the van for our trip to Princeton and insisted on carrying it all the way home. Puts a new meaning to the phrase "air guitar", right?

Pretty leaves covered the sidewalk.

We had to cross a tiny bridge, and the kids wanted to throw leaves into the creek below.

It was about 40 degrees out so everyone was cold when we got home. So I whipped up hot chocolate with cream AND marshmallows and asked if this made up for the ice cream.

Gwen insisted that it didn't.

Dan came home two hours later. A couple of guys at the gas station offered to help him change the tire, and none of them could get the old tire off. They had to kick at it quite awhile before it would budge. And then he had to wait awhile to get the nozzle fixed.

I took the girls to the library for a drop-in craft and then YES, I took those poor deprived girls out for ice cream.

Gwen kept closing her eyes and waving her arms in happiness while she ate the ice cream. She is a sad case, my friends.

And yesterday the girls were able to wear new-to-them fancy coats that someone in the ward passed along to us. June says she's a London girl now.

Gwen and Beck before church.

After church, we ate a ton of lasagna and decided to take a walk before eating the caramel brownies I had made. On our walk, we spotted wild turkeys, and they flew away. This started a huge discussion on whether we really saw turkeys because can turkeys fly?

Yes, they can. Google says so.

You just have to believe.

I believe I can fly.

The End.