Dino Dig, Car Troubles and a Red Squirrel

So one of the MANY gifts we gave Drake for xmas was a paleontology excavation kit. You get rudimentary tools and a brick with plastic dinosaur bones buried inside. You have to excavate the bones and assemble the skeleton. Assembling the dinosaur skeleton with Drake was fun, excavating the bones required a lot of patience and was made MUCH easier when I got the brilliant idea to soak the brick in a bucket of water ;) . This was a two-evening project, it was fun overall, and when I finally looked at the recommended age on the box it was 8+. The digging and putting some of the bones together required an older 'kid'; Drake was excited everytime a new one was revealed and in figuring-out the position of the bones.

On wednesday we had a big storm. Schools in the area were closed, I arrived at work late and left work early because I wanted to drive home in daylight. Good thing! Coming around a corner, I slid my car 180 degrees and lodged it into a snowbank! Luckily, I didn't hit the guard rail that was 2 feet from where my car stopped, I didn't go into the ditch on the side of the road, and most importantly I wasn't hurt. Many people stopped to make sure I was ok and ask if I needed help. A guy who lived across the street said I was the second person to slide on that corner in the time it took him to arrive home and change his clothes. I didn't feel as much of an idiot after he said that. When my husband arrived to help me, the fun started! It took many times of going forward and backward to reposition the tires. Another man stopped and gave me the suggestion of driving the car in first gear. Why hadn't I thought of that sooner! With my car in first, and two men pushing me, I was finally freed from the snowbank. L then showed me the two dents in my trunk he made from pushing so hard. I'll have to try and pop them out. So, I arrived home 45 minutes later then I was expecting, but we were all safe.

So today I had an exciting lunch break! L called to tell me that his car battery died at home and he needed a jump. Drake had to be picked-up in 15 minutes and he had a doctor appointment in 45 minutes! I picked-up Drake from preschool, Drake and I went to the auto parts store to buy jumper cables, and we met Daddy at home where we jumped his car. Then they had to drop me off at work, because L needs to pick me up from work anyway. Drake and L were late to the doctor appointment, where a kid had to be rushed to the hospital via ambulance for pneumonia. The doctor appointment took them 45 minutes longer then they were expecting. But Drake will be fine (we just have to watch how the virus progresses) and Daddy has a running car.

Finally, I'm including footage of our resident red squirrel at my birdfeeder. Sorry the footage isn't very clear, he seemed closer at the time. He is so cute and funny... and he likes to pick fights with the grey squirrels on our roof. Enjoy the weekend!