The Poo Poo Dirt Day

Yep, that's what I said. Poo Poo Dirt Day.

That's what I decided to call Wednesday when we were in the car. Mom and I laughed pretty hard at this because, well, it was kind of a poo poo dirt day.

That doesn't mean we didn't have a good day, however.

Betsy was here and we all decided to make a trek up to see some dinosaurs in Cabazon, just outside of Palm Springs. We loaded up the car and the four of us headed out in the morning.

We'll spare you all of the details, but here's what Mommy posted to Facebook later that day.

I learned a few things today:
1.) Jake gets carsick.
2.) Leapster gaming devices don't work after you barf into the game slot.
3.) Palm Springs might be in the desert, but that doesn't mean it isn't freezing there. And windy.
4.) CHP officers give out coloring books to kids stuck on the freeway with their moms.
5.) AAA is the best investment ever.
6.) When given the choice to laugh about a bad day or cry, it's WAY better to laugh.

Yep, I puked all over my brand new Leapster. And myself. We had to take off my barf clothes on the side of the road. This is when we realized it was 40-some degrees out and very, very windy. Perfect weather for underpants and a t-shirt.

We kept driving and made it up to the Wheel Inn diner. There really were dinosaurs there!

And there really was snow on the mountain right in front of us.

Mom bought me a giant sweatshirt that went down to my ankles so I was at least a little bit covered up and we checked out the dinos. Since it was so very cold and windy, Mom barely took any pictures.

But, we got one that we think is pretty special.

This place is kinda special. We'd guess most people reading this know why it is a special place for Betsy.

(Here's a link to some info about this place...if you're a fan of Pee Wee Herman, chances are you will remember the dinosaur scene at the Wheel Inn diner.)

Mom screwed up and had her camera on the wrong setting and waaay overexposed all the rest of the pictures she snapped. Here are the few that you can at least kinda see...

After a surprisingly good lunch at the diner, Betsy headed off to LA with a wonderful friend of cousin Ken's. We headed home.

About half way, Ryan and I were awakened by an interesting sound. Something loud happened, then Mom pulled off to the side of the freeway. I was still a little groggy, and I heard Mom on the phone. She hung up and said we had good news and bad news.

Bad news: flat tire on the freeway.

Good news: a TOW TRUCK was coming!

I'm four. This far outweighs the bad news.

We sat and waited in the car, throwing fruit snacks at Ryan to keep him laughing. Then, a CHP officer on a motorcycle pulled up and made sure we were all ok, and he gave me a coloring book.

(I wonder if he noticed the car smelled like barf and I was in my underpants?)

The tow truck came and we were changed out in about 7 minutes.

The we had to navigate the remaining 50 miles home on a donut tire. We were THAT car, driving on the freeway with flashers on, going 50.

We finally got off the freeway and took surface streets. No joke, we hit EVERY red light for 30 miles. It was funny, actually.

We were hungry. We'd been in the barf car for lots of hours. We just wanted to get home...and that's when I dubbed it a "Poo Poo Dirt Day."

But you know what? It was actually a pretty great day. Any day spent with people you love counts as a great day.

We had to say goodbye to Betsy yesterday, so we'll be missing her. We're so glad she got to come out and play!

Today we're just hanging out at home. Maybe we'll take some pictures...

Love,
J