Childhood Memoirs: New Old Car

do you know that we only have one car? i think we're going on 4 years now. i remember feeling down right shocked when i would hear that a family only had one car. how on earth did they pull that off! well, i'm not totally sure we could if we lived anywhere else, but we live in the 2nd largest bike commuting city in america. makes it kinda handy ;) not to mention in 10 years of marriage, we've never had car payments. it'd be really hard to start now quite frankly.

when i was pregnant with rowan we kinda assumed we'd have to get a bigger car. i'm super thankful for some wise counsel we received. a financial planner through cru suggested that we make what we have work. he said in europe people have these little bity cars and they just pull a trailer or strap stuff on top if they go on a longer trip and basically just make it work. we liked it.

lately though, with jack going to school every single day, we've been feeling the crunch of one car a bit more. God may have provided a solution...

so i kinda rear ended a guy and then a girl rear ended me all at a stop light on monday. since the car was making a horrific sound, we dropped it off at the shop and they gave us this 95 bmw as a loaner. sweeeeet. well jon loves the thing, and i have to admit that it's pretty fun to drive a stick again. jon went to get the garage door clicker out of the buick and started asking the guy questions about the beemer. we found out they're trying to sell a bunch of their loaners including this one. the guy told him they recently put in several thousand dollars worth of repairs. it has new ac, new transmission and a new clutch and 165,000 miles (not terrible for a 16 year old car). they're only asking about what a week long family vacation would cost. i realize that could mean a lot of things. i'm super tempted to say, but just know that for a kick around second car that's going to run well, last a long time and get us around town it's remarkably reasonable :) i tell you that lest you judge it by it's logos.

it's not a done deal yet, but the boys were desperate to wash it. they think it's both a race car and a "lemon" jack specifically said to jon, "hey dad, i think we're driving a lemon" :)

even though it might be a "lemon" it still says bmw on it. i have to admit that, as a family in full time ministry and living on full support, it makes us a bit hesitant. like i said....we'll see.

while i wanted to drive the filthy thing through the $3 car wash with free vacuums, the boys really wanted to wash it themselves.

i mean, who can resist a chance to get soapy and soaked?

i think jack looks just like my uncle peter in this one.

i asked rowan to make a silly face. he did this then cracked up at himself.

have i ever mentioned that i try to do one fun thing a day with the boys? sometimes it's a big ordeal like this, sometimes not. i can handle one. a tangible goal.