Post-Christmas fun

Christmas was great, but even better was that Michael got the week after Christmas completely off. We were able to get quite a few things done...

Like car repair.

The sad thing is that after months of repair work the car is still not completely fixed. At least we have a bunch of shiny new parts that won't need replacing for a while, and if we do have to replace them we're pretty much pros now anyways so it shouldn't be a problem.

In case you are unfamiliar with the story here it is, it's a long one. One day our car stopped working. We replaced the battery just in case...didn't help (but now we have a nice new battery). Then, thanks to the genius of Craig (Michael's dad) who figured out that it was the water pump bearing, we replaced the water pump. The car started (yes!), but then it wouldn't idle (no!) and it still had its original hum /death groan. Disheartened we decided to get it diagnosed by professionals. I use the word professionals very loosely as these guys have let us down in a number of ways.

Of course right after we took it in we found out online that when the battery has been disconnected for a long time the car needs to "re-learn" how to idle and can do so on its own, saving us $100 of "repair work." Next problem. The mechanics told us we had a bad bearing in the tensioner assembly which was apparently responsible for the hum, and they could fix it for about $400. I don't know how people survived without the internet, but we just looked up tensioner assembly replacement and did the work ourselves (we also had the advantage of Craig, who has a garage full of tools and is incredible when it comes to car repair).

Of course things didn't go as easy as we had hoped, but we were able to figure it out.

PAUSE: A piece of advice for anyone doing repair work that involves removing the serpentine belt. Save yourself a lot of grief and just go to Autozone and rent their serpentine belt tool - it's free. You won't regret it!

So we spent the next few Saturdays figuring out how to replace the tensioner, and we did. The moment of truth came....and....the problem was still there :(

Car: 1

McPhies: 0

We were beat. So we took it back to Robby's and told them they were wrong. They diagnosed it again and told us it's actually the compressor....sure. They may be right, but as we have no guarantee that it's really the problem, and since compressors are expensive, we decided to just ride it out until the problem shows itself.

And so our months of car repair have come to an end. It's a bittersweet moment as we have our Saturdays back, but it was fun spending time with Craig, and I really enjoyed watching Michael work on the car :)

The end.

But not for this post. 

And so we had the chance to do many things - like babysit for Robert and Megan. Despite being a minor form of birth control, it was really fun playing around with the boys - so cute.

After the kids were asleep, Robert, Megan, Michael, and I got to have even more good times, which included....

CAFE RIO!

and a really fun game called Pandemic. We ended up being smarter than the game, but what else would you expect with such brilliant people playing...and the fact that it was on the easiest level.

One of my favorite days was when we got to go hiking up viejas peak with Michael's dad. I love going on hikes and this one had a beautiful 360 degree view from the top. It's also fun learning about all of the traditions that go along with Michael and Craig's time together - this one involved a giant donut :)

Viejas mountain and Cuyamaca peak

Of course the quiet serenity we felt from the hike wasn't long lasting, because before long we were back on child-minding duty (which we love). 
Thanks Erin for the pictures.

Michael especially loves it. What a good sport, I knew I chose a good one.

All in all an excellent vacation.