Luk

Luk
Our family.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

New Car Day!

 

Eric took Kai to speech this morning.  I got some work done then was getting ready for the day.  I was fussing to Luk about what to wear.  Saying "It's new car day! What do I wear?!".  He has a fabulous sense of humor so his eye roll was funny.  I opted for red and black stripes.  Although it's possible it was actually navy blue stripes.  

She was all ready to go.  The paperwork was smooth.  We were out of there in no time.

Eric found the 1st Easter Egg.  It's on the front windshield. So cute. We also noticed the recirculating air button has a tiny Wrangler on it instead of the sedan in all other cars.  There is a 1941 braille on the stick shift.  It'll be fun to discover more.

I drove us straight to the Beacon for cones.  They were good.  I don't know how they win awards though.  Honestly McDonald's is less than half the price and tastes better.  Imho.

It was fun driving the fancy Jeep.  So much smoother than Oscar.

Next we went to Clover Point in  James Bay.  It looks stormy out there but it was actually pretty mild.  This wee duck was from Cam, our salesman.  I ducked him a light up duck. 

Then the sun came out so we tried for pictures.  The sun was in my eyes and pictures just don't show off the shine.

These loungers looked comfortable but they really aren't.  Kai is genuinely smiling here!  Not the fake one or the usual grimace that is actually him starting to cry.  

The boys like the Jeep.  Likely because they both have charging ports in the back seat.


Home.  
They'll look more similar once Eric puts the hard top back on Oscar.

Jia decided to come with me to visit Mom and she plugged her phone in the auxiliary usb port and all hell broke lose with the stereo head unit/screen.  We sat in there for a long time trying to figure it out.  The screens were flipping wildly, we couldn't talk to the unit anymore, the radio was searching and switching every four seconds.  Eric unplugged the battery but that didn't help. Jia opted not to come if there was no music.  I finally turned the screen off and just left.  Lili called an hour later, her and Eric were concerned I was out upset and crying about my car.  Uh, nope, was just out for a drive with my Mom.  What's a used vehicle without some glitches to take care of? I already texted Cam.  He thinks it might need a software update.  Eric has been researching online and has written down a few ideas to try fixing it.  We're camping tomorrow so for me this likely moves to the back burner until next week.  

Still no names yet.  I'm getting more and more ok with the black.  Adding Anise to the name list.  Or Panda.  







Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Concert day with Noah Khan

 

Lili is off to Vancouver to see Noah Khan.  She sent me a picture of what she's wearing in case she goes missing.  
She is with a more adventurous friend and the friend booked them into a hostel.  Not Lili's cup of tea.  They were put in a room with a young man who was clean cut, then the 4rth person came in.  A not clean cut older man.  Now the girls have been moved to a new room and 3rd and 4rth girl aren't there yet.  I think it's safe to say Lili is quite unlikely to do the hostel thing again.
How pretty!  Way better than the clear glass bathroom door.  I'm not sure about the purple but it'll do the trick for now.  

Jia just applied for a job.  Fingers crossed for her.  

The new Jeep is ready to go.  Safety inspection done and gassed up.  The clutch parts have been ordered.  They have no idea when it will come in.  A two day job with a loaner.

I've spent the bulk of the day at my desk.  Getting all the things done one by one.  

Eric has come inside after picking up Kai from playgroup and we worked together to get a new casserole recipe in the oven.  

Lili is camping with us this weekend. Fei is working and she'll be home alone with Isabel. I'll be coming home to give Izzy some time while Fei is working and sleeping.  Izzy isn't doing so great.  Old age really sucks.  It will give me time to swap Jeeps for the fun of it.

Eric cleaned out his van.  Then brought all the stuff in the house.  He had already loaded his things into Oscar.  And just like that I gathered everything to stock up the new car with my things.  So, we're sharing but his crap is in Oscar and my crap is moving to the new one. I did accuse him of tricking me with shiney newness to get Oscar away from me ;)  I mean, he's already looking at bigger tires and shopping for winches.  





Monday, March 25, 2024

Hair Cuts.



A cut for Luk.
The boys are back to school today.  Jia still has another week off.
A shave for Kai.
And a cut for me.  All three girls were making faces.  It didn't go well.  At all.  Haha. I think he purposefully did some hacking so I wouldn't ask him to do mine ever again.

This morning we took the boys to school and dropped some forms off to Luk's teacher. He is up for his autism assessment in early April. Then we took me to get my hair cut. I'm all cute again.
My co-worker.  I just adore her.  What a fluff.  
We found a Wrangler 3rd row seat on Marketplace.  Or it found me?  It just popped up in my page.  Anyways.  This one will fit both of the Wranglers.  Eric is going to install a track in both and we'll have the bench in the garage and it can be used in either in a pinch.  So we solved the issue of giving up 7 seats.
The adult children are rarely with us.
We are on a roll of problem solving.  We're camping on Thursday for the Easter weekend and there just isn't anything comfortable in the trailer so we went to Sleep Country today and picked out a new mattress.  It's being made in Ontario and delivered to the house Apr 9.  Price was $420 for a rv queen chiropractic, temperature controlling, combo coils and memory foam.  We were pleasantly surprised.  Only a few more sleeps on the super hard mattress.

We attempted getting new firmer foam in our dinette cushions but the foam shop was closed.  

We are going to finally sell our moho.  Eric has it moved so he can give it a bath before we post pictures.  I found him in Walmart today chatting with the greeter.  He wants a moho but needs a toy hauler.  He thought we should give him our number so he could sell it for us.  We declined but maybe I was too hasty on that.  Lol.  

Eric is clear that he really, really doesn't care which Jeep he drives.  He says I can pick either and he will drive whichever is left behind.  I don't think I can be that gracious.  So we now know which one of the two of us struggles more with sharing ;)  I'm feeling a bit better about the black.  It will look great with the black and white trailer behind.  If all the shifting and downsizing is about making life smaller, easier and us happier then we're still on track.  

Eric doesn't seem to care at all that we'll look completely nuts with two Wranglers. We did have a  good laugh today realizing that one day we'll pass each other and do the Jeep wave.  Also, we've decided that I will drive Oscar to Jeepapaloosa as the registered car for the trail and Eric will follow with the new one and trailer.  We're allowed other vehicles there for towing and carrying of the things.  Because as Jeepapaloosa says, we know Jeeps suck at towing and carrying but we all look cool so that's all that matters :)

I did ask Eric today what it was about Oscar that has swayed him to my Jeep life, it only took 25ish years.  He said it was the wave.  I think it was the moment he drove Oscar through his first creek.  Haha.

We solved a few issues inside the trailer.  It's getting there.  A self built inside the pantry.  The cargo net installed on Kai's bed.  An idea about where to put RV papers more permanently.  And some bathroom ideas formulating.  I did order the window cling for the glass bathroom door, fingers crossed it gets here before Thursday.  We're feeling mostly ready for heading out again.  Just need a meal plan and some groceries.  We're shopping after we drop the boys at school on Thursday.



Sunday, March 24, 2024

Buyers Remorse

 Well, that didn't take long.  

Why did I buy a black one?!  I barely slept.  All over the internet for hours through the wee hours.  There is a purple one in Ontario, priced higher, automatic and higher kms.  Arg.  So, I'm at least comfortable with the specs, the price and the deal.  Just not thrilled about the black.  We could order a new one but the price is just too much to swallow.  

Eric slept just fine.  He thinks the black is pretty.  He's way more practical than I am.  

There are soooo many black ones.  They just don't stand out to me.  

Which one would we even take to Jeepapaloosa?!  

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Unexpected

 

We have joked about being a two Wrangler family.  I've offered to go back to my Commander so Eric can have Oscar.  Eric has offered to trade in his van on a Pavement Princess Jeep for me with all the things.  I don't think we were really making any actual plans but more in the one day catagory.  I do cruise the internet looking though but not in a serious way. We did stop in Campbell River to look at a Jeep that keeps popping up in my Facebook.  It's really pretty but didn't tick the boxes and Eric took it for a test drive and deemed it downright dangerous.  It had been lifted with giant tires but wasn't geared properly.  Also it was an automatic.  I found another one in Abbotsford in white that I liked but after connecting with the seller it was an automatic too.  Both in the wrong trim levels.
This is 2018 manual Jeep Wrangler Jlu Rubicon.  With the right gears. That appears to have never been in the bush.

I'm shocked that we bought a black one!  I need to find a way to get way more red accents on her.

And, now we need a name.
Some current ideas are 
Daisy (Elmo's sister)
Lady Hawk ( to go with the Falcon)
Ladybird (Ladybug)
Lady (Lady and the Tramp)
Lucy (I Love Lucy)
Redd (Redd from Pirates)

Me looking to red themes so we can pretend it's not black ;)

Today some of us went to Victoria to see the wildlife photo exhibit at the BC Museum and on a whim I asked to stop at the Dodge dealership.  Then I looked online while we were driving to see if they had any used Jeeps.  And they had one.  That I hadn't seen online yet.  It was the right kind in all ways but in black.  Not on my preferred list of colors.  We discussed not bothering to look but I said we should maybe look out of curiosity and for comparison.  

Then Fei, Eric and I walked around it a few times.  It's gorgeous.  Crap.  So we went in with the salesman to fill out paperwork for a test drive and gave all the info on the van to get a trade in price.  Then he went all over the van and took pictures.  We were at the hour mark and I still hadn't even seen inside the new one.  Haha.  Bonkers.  Then our salesman wanted to do a walk around and show us all of the tiny details that are new and improved since Oscar.  I just wanted in it to feel and smell it.  It's so perfect inside.  I love it.  My feelings are all divided.  I think Oscar is prettier to look at but the new one has ALL the things and I can get in it easily and see better with proper positioning. It feels like a betrayal.  I am aware that's  totally irrational and perhaps a bit insane  .  

All told we were there 3 hours.  The poor kids.  Fei was pushing for us to do it.  Eric put the salesman through his paces with questions ;)  He loved the way it drives and approved it but funnily enough he did ask the salesman what was up with the clutch, mentioning that it felt off to him.  Then Eric had him check for recalls because I'd read online that there were recalls on the 2018.  Yup, turns out there is one, on the clutch.  We did all laugh at that.

Turns out our salesman drives a 2013 black Rubicon with red trim that he loves so he so surprised that the color was my only roadblock.

The Jeep was traded in on Wednesday.  It hasn't had a safety inspection or a detail yet.  It was listed Thursday and there was a scheduled test drive for 4 today.  Knowing how hard it is to find the ones that tick all the boxes I was aware it wasn't going to be there for long.  The original owner traded to a 392 Jeep.  Only two were allotted to BC.  One to him and one to Vancouver.

Luk has an eye specialist appointment in Victoria on Wednesday so we are picking her up then.  No one is sad about letting the van go, it's met our needs but we're not attached.  We are slightly aware that we might regret letting the 7 seats go.
Ok, I normally love the photo exhibit but today it was just a little too real, dark, and sad for me.  Wrong day for me I guess.  Kai actually liked it and because the pictures were all digital and lit up he was able to see them.




We're staying home tomorrow.  Attempting to not spend any more.  Haha.  Hoping buyers remorse doesn't set in before Wednesday.  

  







Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Back to Reality

 

The sun was heavenly.  The kids requested a home day at the trailer for our last day.  It felt like a bit of a waste to me but I lost.  My list of trails, waterfalls and places of interest were not interesting I guess.
We had to move a few times to stay in the sun.

3 ducks done with lots of disruptions from the kids, the phone, issues at home, Isabel had a rough night, meals and snacks. It was pretty relaxing though.  How cute is the graduation duck?!

We went inside to eat dinner and after spending all day outside we opted to stay in with movies versus fire in the cooler evening.  Eric and Luk tore down camp while I did dishes then we settled in to watch silly movies. Good for a laugh.

This morning was a breeze to get going since most of it was done already.

The trailer did ok for us overall.  The power was great.  We never went below 2/3.  We put it to the test with tons of lights, using the inverter and constant charging of things.  

There is no way we're set up to deal with Chihuahuas in there.  We have ideas.  Projects for the next couple weeks.

The kitchen has issues, the stove is the wrong direction in our opinion.  Eric is going to pull it out and see if there is a way to move it.  The plastic knobs are melting on it.  The toilet leaked on the last day at the base which is weird and needs looking at. Trying to wash and do teeth in the ridiculously tiny kitchen while someone is cooking or cleaning is nuts especially with Kai who brushes and spews in a wide radious versus spitting politely down the drain. So I think we need to add a wee corner sink to the shower.  Plus find a creative way to put shelves and storage into the silly bathroom. The bathroom door is clear glass. ?  We put a cloth tablecloth over the door and that worked but I'm ordering window cling today.  One night Kai fell out of his floor level bed and he wouldn't wake up so I was trying to shove him back in his cubby, he was blocking the bathroom door.  We bought a suv pet mesh barrier to keep the Chihuahuas out of his bed but it might do double duty to keep him in. Lastly, there is only one heater vent. One!  Weird and it blows onto my side of the bed.  This must be able to be redirected.  

I'm reminding myself this is allowing us way more freedom to travel farther and get into more places but this is NOT the luxory of the motorhome. 

Kai is like a 400lb gorilla in there. It's an ultra light and so everything is cheap and thin.  He stomps and bashes everything which is loud and frankly sounds like he's going to go through things.  Any ideas on how to make him a gentle giant?  It was nice keeping him outside and having him use the outhouse most of the time.

Oh, and, tmi, this was the weekend that Kai decided to try out standing to pee.  Oy.  He doesn't have the anatomy for this.  Or the where withall to manage it or see where things are spraying.  We're all on top of him now and attempting to watch him even closer than usual.  Almost 13 and still not potty trained.  This is hard.  I don't believe Kai cares.

I was happy to get Kai home where the routine is easier and we can all get a break.  He was a lot.  I know, new trailer, new bed, 1st trip out, new table, new routine.  When we came in the driveway he tore out of the van and I reminded him there is no one at the door to let him in. We've spent 8 years trying to get him to stop charging the door.  He races up and pushes others out of the way to get his nose right on the door and then we have to get him to move to unlock the door and then try to control the shoving and as he pushes inside.  Today, Eric reminded him there was no one at the door and he lied and said he didn't hear that.  But he did when I told him.  So I made him go back outside for five minutes for lying to Dad and still pushing his way past Eric, Luk and Jia. He's crying about it with me reminding him tears aren't going to work and to go find something to do that isn't a screen so he promptly ran to the shelf and grabbed Luk's game that hasn't even been opened yet, oy, so I gave him a puzzle and he's been staring at it and sobbing the whole while I've been on the blog.  Too many years of parenting for me to feel bad for any of them in these moments. I'm hardened.

Keeping it real.

Fei worked last night so she's sleeping today.  She stayed awake, up, to do Lili's makeup this morning because she's off to VIU to have her grad photos taken. The dogs were all super excited we're back.  Luk showered already.  Eric has parked the Falcon and is bringing in laundry and food. I'm planning to sit with Finn until he stops shaking and then hit my desk and shower before dinner.

Back to it.

When we left this morning I said "bye beautiful river site, I'll miss you" and surprisingly Jia said she'd come back happily if I booked closer to the end where the data works.  She asked to go home early a few times.  She seemed happy enough overall but still felt compelled to complain here and there. And pick on the brothers. And fight the meals.  She did however keep to our hours!  Yesterday she spent the entire day in the trailer drawing.  I can't even complain now that her curriculum is ALL art based.

Luk is feeling better after a shower and came to thank me for planning the trip to Elk Falls.  A win!  

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Strathcona

Upper Campbell Lake, Mosaic campsite.  Goals.  Most of the sites are lake front.
Strathcona Dam.



Strathcona Park.
We packed a lunch.  Good thing because we took off for 5 hours exploring and didn't find ANY food options.  There is a lot of nothing out there. 
Strathcona Lodge.

Our plan was to do the park and head to Gold River and Thasis.  We made it to Gold River.  It's still underwhelming. Kids were bored.  So I requested we just head back.

It's safe to say we won't be adding Gold River to our possible small community list to move to one day ;)

Being without data is getting old.  We're in Campbell River again.  It's 3 minutes from our campsite.  I want better phone charging cords for the trailer, so we're headed to Walmart.

 Eric and Luk are playing in a sporting goods store while I blog and catch my game up.