It's always something!

Last night was an annual event. We went to Bill's Dad's home in Grand Haven and got the Saab out of storage. Bill's Saab is our one really frivolous possession. It's a 1991 Saab 900 convertible. For some reason, it has always been Bill's dream car. In 2001, he found this car for sale and convinced me we needed it. The original owner took pretty good care of it, so we haven't had to put much money into it. It isn't terribly expensive to own...we only plate it and insure it for the summer months. It gets an annual oil change, and we go through 2 or 3 tanks of gas a year (we don't all fit in the car, so it isn't used much these days!). We think it might need some brake work this summer, but that's do-able.

The boys sat in the driveway at Papa's house and posed for a few pictures with us:


TJ loves the Saab, and has always referred to it as the 'fun car'. We allow him to sit in the front with Bill, as we feel it is the safest place for him. There's no passenger-side air bag, he is still in his booster seat, and in the event of an accident, I'd rather have him up front than in the back.

TJ wanted to ride home with Bill (top-down of course), so Bill said we'd take Leonard home instead of the highway. It was a beautiful evening. TJ kept turning around and waving at me as I followed behind with Sam and Nolan in the van (Sam has zero interest in the Saab, and loudly announced he was NOT riding home in it). I had been watching for deer, as we were headed home right around dusk. Less than a mile from home, a deer ran out of the woods, headed straight for the Saab. I pictured it slamming into the side of the car and hurting TJ. Thankfully, it hesitated and avoided the Saab, but then ran right out in front of me. I had started braking as soon as I saw the deer, but I was still unable to stop. Both Bill and TJ heard the loud thud as it slammed into the front left part of my van (Sam's comment? "Mama, your purse just fell off the seat"). Thankfully, my air bag did not deploy and the van was still drivable. We got home and surveyed the damage. It doesn't look terrible, but the front left quarter panel is pressing against the driver's door, and it makes a horrendous noise when you open it. We won't be driving it until it is repaired. At least we now have an extra car to help us get around! The bad thing is I can't get 3 car seats in the Lancer, and we also don't all fit in the Saab. I hope we can get the van fixed quickly!