Adler, Austen and Us at Firestone

Cold weather. Many potholes. Two cars. Two flats. That's the summary of our weekend. On Friday, Tom came home with a "loaner" vehicle since he had to be towed (yes, towed) to the dealer. They informed us we had two damanged rims.

Well, on Sunday, we scored our second flat - one that the whole family witnessed. We came out of a quick run to the grocery store on the way to Tom's mom's house and there it was another flat. Not wanting to damage the rim, Austen, Adler, Tom and I slowly made our way to the nearby Firestone. Only problem was, we needed a quick fix. Tom and I were on our way to a work event for him and were dropping Austen and Adler off with his mom. Firestone says they can put the spare on quickly (my idea)and we could get it fixed later at our own local shop and be on our way. Good solution. Only problem was that we all had to get out of the vehicle in the cold and we didn't have a leash for Adler.

Lesson learned. Always bring a leash for your dog even if you don't plan on taking her out of the car. Plans change or there could be an emergency -- and most dogs need a leash near six lanes of traffic. With Tom in an unusual state of panic, I suggest we use the bungee cord as Adler's mock leash. We do. Adler obeys and the four of us sit on a weathered wooden bench outside of the local Firestone huddled together for warmth. Tom is called to confer with the guy as to where the wheel locks are and I'm left on the bench with an 80 lb. dog with a bungee cord as a leash and a 13-month old. What a picture. I just had to share.

Thought I'd share too a cute recent video of our two little ones (okay so only Austen is little). They really do like each other. See for yourselves.