Prepping for a driver

It occurred to us that Kayda is only a few months from getting her driver's permit.  It was kind of a surprise actually.  We'll get her signed up for driver's ed ASAP so she can start driving right away.  Daddy and I were fortunate enough to be given a car when we turned 16.  We got one a little early since it was a stick shift.  That was the intent for Kayda. 

We want ALL the kids to start with a manual transmission vehicle.  You get to know your vehicle better, you have better control over the car, it's a valuable thing to know and it will help discourage texting and driving.  It won't make it impossible but it will be much more difficult to do.  

That being said, we also recognize that we both drive BIG vehicles.  Kayda decided on a Jeep years ago. Since we know finding the right used car, at the price and age we were looking could take a long time, so we started looking. 

We have Eric, a super awesome neighbor and priceless resource.  He and Bruce were willing to help us vet the cars.  Eric is familiar with engines and knows what to look for generally but Bruce is the golden ticket.  He was the lead mechanic for the southwest region of WSDOT so he knows his crap.  Add that to the fact he has owned something like 8 wranglers... it's perfect.  They went to see one being sold by a pro-volleyball player.  It was her first car and she'd outgrown it and moved to Europe.  Eric was ready to leverage that big time.  Young girl, first car, plays volleyball.... Unfortunately, the condition led us to a price too low for the owners so it was a no.  We watched and watched and another came up, but it had some giant red flags.  We found another but Daddy went and saw that there was some concerning stuff.  It kept getting harder to find one meeting the criteria as Kayda decided what she did and didn't like.  A few months after we started looking she found one she was interested in.  Of course she found it on 4th of July.  We took off to South Dakota on the 5th after arranging for Daddy, Eric, and Bruce to go see it.  

They all went to look at it and were super impressed.  The original price was more than we wanted to pay but Daddy was able to negotiate it down into our budgeted amount.  

Kayda was on the road with me, watching the time for when they would be going to see the Jeep.  She was very frustrated because she knew that Daddy probably would mess with her if he bought it.  Trying to convince her he didn't get it.  Sure enough...that's exactly what he did. 

Of course she had to wait 11 days until she saw it for the first time in person! She's in love.  Bonus for having it early....I get to drive it sometimes!  It has already been really helpful to have.  I do need to get different tires.  These are brand new but they're the fatter tires and make it handle funny.   We got it early, we live in an area where there are little to no cars...so we let her start learning to shift early. 

We spent about 30 minutes going up and down our cul-de-sac so she could learn 1st and 2nd.  Stop, go, stop, go, turn around, repeat...  She was doing fairly well by the end.  Though her arm and leg were tired.  

She was going to show daddy real quick and the boys HAD to climb in (only because the top was off).  Ozzi also REALLY likes the jeep.  Even when the top was still on.  He'd climb in and you'd have to drag him out. 

On her third time out I was really having a hard time getting a specific idea through.  Eric saw us driving and did his typical "slow down!" that he texts every time we drive by.  I tell him to get his butt outside and help my kid since I was confusing her.  He used to teach driver's ed so it's handy.  In the next 30 minutes he had her shifting smoothly and going all the way up into 4th gear driving down our roads back there.  None of them are roads that get more than a few cars during the day.  I just hung out in the back seat and watched and listened.  Since then she's driven us to the end of the road before we switch and I take us onto the main roads and into town.  She's learning shifting, maintaining speed, reverse and turn signals.  By the time it's actually time for her on the road she'll be a pro!

A year of dirt bikes and quads

With the bigger lot now we are finding a lot more fun outdoor things to do.  We decided we wanted to get a quad for the kids.  While we were waiting for our "mid-size" quad to come we got a small dirt bike from a friend for $40.  I asked my neighbor Eric to help me figure out how to get it running... Next thing I know he has taken it home, taken it apart, and gotten it running.  That began our frequent visits with Eric.  He lives at the end of our cul-de-sac, is a retired police officer, and loves all "toys" with an engine.  The bike is small for Kayda and Dillon but they like riding it anyway.

Getting a dirt bike and quad led to creating a track in our pasture.

Along came our ever accommodating, awesome neighbors.  We mapped out the course with flags, and Eric led the way with his riding lawn mower while Alan followed with his big tiller.

Our "mid-size" quad arrived and ended up being the right size for Carson.  It ended up being a lemon.  We spent hours working with Eric trying to get the thing to run right.  Despite being brand new the company wouldn't help at all.  We ended up selling it to a mechanic guy for half what we paid... We were happy to be rid of it. 

The lemon ended up getting the kids into "shop class" as I called it.

Lucky for us Eric has all the motor toys and is happy to let the kids borrow them.

As the seasons changed our track became muddier and muddier.  It started with huge chunks of clay textured mud flying around.

It coated the quads in the stuff and was crazy hard to wash off.  This is our first quad by the way. It's an orange reaching style vs the utility style Eric owns.  Eric and his mechanic friend Bruce found us one, went to see it, and came back with it.  Buying motor toys is a hobby to them so they had fun doing it.  The first one we found I went with them to look at.  The guy refused to open it up to let Bruce see what was going on.  So Bruce was immediately a no.  Meanwhile Eric was in negotiation mode just in case.  Next thing I know I'm a single mom of three... With a whole sad story.  I had to work very hard to keep a straight face (which I'm terrible at by the way).  

Eric, being the crazy guy he is decided we needed to have a "great race". He went and got trophies, an annual one and a special one for this year's winner.  He also tagged on a prize of $100.  That was a surprise.  Brian and the kids competed on the three vehicles.  Fastest time (with handicaps) won!

He had a whole set of rules that he planned out ahead of time.

His friends Bruce, Ken and a friend of Ken's came to watch.  I was happy to excuse myself from calculating handicaps.

Kayda ended up winning by an incredibly small margin.  Brian crashed, he managed to hop off and land on his feet, and forfeited an event because he "got mud in his eye". He will be teased about that forever.  We also had an exciting moment where Kayda was almost completely off the quad but was able to save it.

The later in the season the more soupy the mud got until it was practically water.  Definitely easier to clean up from 

We have a lot of stories about Eric now.  He has decided that Dillon is a natural and should ride motocross.  That sport is too time consuming and expensive so it will never happen.  He went and bought a two stroke dirt bike for the kids to learn on anyway.  As I said, he loves all motorized toys.

Sheep lake with Alan

The kids and I had been wanting to go on a hike.  I brought it up to Alan and it turned out he was supposed to meet some friends on the trail end of their backpacking trip up at Sheep's Lake.  We drove separately since his plan was to stay the night and then give his friends a ride home.  

Awesome neighbor Alan!  If you look at his feet.... He brought all his backpacking stuff and forgot shoes!  He did the whole thing in sandals!  When we got up there the kids happily helped him set up his tent. I love that they're helpful.

 It was cool enough that the kids didn't want to go in the water. Until Kayda offered Carson $30 if he went in and under.  He did it, and yes, I made her give him the money.

When the kids were ready to head back

Alan decided that he didn't want to stay the night. So we helped him pack his stuff and headed down the trail together.  He planned to drive up to the trailhead and pick his friends up the next day instead of staying.