Think about it...

When Riley gets in trouble, we give him a timeout, then ask him why he got in trouble. Often he'll say, "I don't know," and we'll say, "well, think about it," to try and get him to think about why he got in trouble rather than us just telling him why.

Today we were in the car and he said, "Do you know what I want to do today?" We say, "No, what would you like to do?" His reply was, "Think about it..." Made us laugh really hard!

It's in his mind

Riley backtalked to Marci. Marci asked if that was nice and he said no. She asked if he owed her an appology and he said yes. She waited, then asked, "Well, where is it?" He said, "It's in my mind." Marci and I both thought that was pretty amazing for a 3 1/2 yr old.

Monster Trucks

Riley and Rich had a great time at the Monster Truck show! You can see more details, photos and a video of the event by clicking the photo.

Accident 2/4/06

Oh man, what a wild Saturday. First off, everyone ok. Well, Marci's neck and back are sore and she's going to the doctor Monday to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong - hopefully he'll just say it's the muscles that are sore.

2:20pm, south-bound on hwy 217, just past the Walker Road on-ramp and before the Canyon Road exit, left lane next to the median. Traffic came to a stop, so we stopped. I looked in my mirror and couldn't believe what I saw - the Ford Aerostar was not going to be able to stop in time. Marci said I said, "She's not going to stop...", I don't remember what I said.

It was one heck of an impact!! Really gave us a huge jolt and pushed us into the car in front of us. Lots of breaking sounds and all that. Marci and I jumped out to check on the damage. The kids were crying a lot so Marci went back to check on them - fortunately they were fine. Of course we used this to again explain why we have Riley wear a seatbelt, and he now understands.

I was amazed! There really was very little damage to our car! I couldn't believe how well we came out of it, especially since their car was undriveable. The other guy we were pushed into was also shocked at how little damage there was. I thought for sure we'd have some serious damage and have to be towed. Here are some photos.

I called 911 and someone from ODOT showed up within 5 minutes - don't know where he came from. The 911 person said to jus deal with the ODOT guy. Since no one was hurt, they didn't send a police car out and after we exchanged insurance information we were free to go. That was weird.

We got back in and drove down to Salem, then back home that night. The car drove fine, no problems. Don't get me wrong, there is some serious damage and will cost a lot to fix it, but it's not preventing the car from working normal - the tailgate even closes.

Fortnately everyone was nice. The gal was in her 20's and really felt bad. Yelling at her wouldn't have done any good, and I'm glad the other guy was also really nice. I just told her these things happen and that's why we have insurance.

Of course this just goes with one of my major rants about driving these days and how people don't take enough care, like driving 65, in the rain, in the dark, and having some idiot tailgating you. Saturday the sun was out, but the roads were still wet. Maybe if the roads were dry she might have been able to stop, though I think she still would have hit us just not as hard. People just don't pay attention anymore, or keep a good distance between cars. Everyone's in a hurry, and doesn't want to let another car get in front of them. Maybe I'm just getting older and have less tollerance than I did, or maybe driving really has gotten worse.

Anyhow, the bottom line is it's nice to know how well our Honda Pilot will hold up in an accident, and that the kids are fine. We'll find out soon about Marci, keeping our fingers crossed it's just muscles being sore. I've filed a claim and will call our agent Monday to figure out all the details. I've never been hit before, so now there's something else I can add to my life experience. :)