Another weekend that was booked solid. Today was Tin Caps Day: as a reward for finishing a reading program at school, the Fort Wayne Tin Caps had a special day at the ballpark. Alex got a free ticket to the game and hot dog. Beth and I and Missy were all going to go, but at the last minute (almost literally) Pam called and she and Marve were 5 minutes away. They had just decided it was a nice day for a drive and would come visit. We all went out for lunch, then instead of Beth, Marve went with us to the game and Beth and Pam stayed behind. We got there in the second inning, and within a half-hour Alex was asking to leave. Don't know why because he seemed to like being there, but he had a time in mind and wanted to be gone by 4. We left in the 7th, but hadn't seen all that much of the game because the last couple innings we were walking around the park. There was a kids play area Alex and Missy wanted to try out, including a climbing wall that Alex tried (got scared about 8 feet up) and an inflatable bounce around thing they both went on. We all left soon after that, when the checking out the gift shop started teetering on the brink of a fit (from Missy) about not getting what she wanted. After we got home we took the kids out for ice cream. Yesterday we also went to Fort Wayne, mostly to go to a fabric store and look for potential presents for Missy's birthday coming up. We also hit the mall to ride the carousel and check out the Disney store. Friday was small group at our house, which Alex and I were late for because of T-ball. Beth had told me that the makeup for the pictures being rained out was Friday but no a game, so I was expecting only to be there for a little while. But the game makeup happened right after the pictures. Alex did well again, but as usual needs to focus, pay attention to what he's doing, and slow down. Got a good pic of him as a runner on third base, crouching down to make an X with dirt on the bag to show where he would stand.

It isn't the transmission! Forget the Avalanche. The mechanic called me to tell me that the van did what I was describing long enough for them to find a problem, which was the crankshaft position sensor and wiring harness. It ran too close to the exhaust to work on it today (too hot, no more day left) so they'll have it until tomorrow. BUT since it's just another $250 to fix we'll do that instead of buying the expensive truck with bad mileage.

So the mechanics had the van all day and couldn't find anything wrong with it. It wouldn't do what I told them it did even after they drove it over 10 miles. So they put some transmission fluid conditioner in it, changed the oil, and buttoned it up and charged me $250 mostly for labor. Then on the way home it started it doing it again. So I called them back and I'm taking it in again tomorrow. But I'm about resigned now that the van is going and we need to replace it quickly. So Beth and I took the kids out tonight to look at trucks, since we need something that can tow the camper, and preferably won't strain itself too much. We found a couple we liked and one we loved...an 04 Chevy Avalanche...4x4, sunroof, power everything, roomy, NICE ride....$16,000, 90,000 miles and bad mileage. So now we have to decide yea or nay. We both really liked it. Beth wants it. Stay tuned.

Another softball game rained out. T-ball as well, though they need to find a better system. It rained like crazy earlier in the day, then stopped for the afternoon, and threatened approaching game time. The coach called and said the game was still on as far as he knew but would call back if it was cancelled. It was picture day too. No call, so we all headed out there. JUST as we got all the way onto the field it started pouring. Pictures were hastily postponed until later and the game was called. We could tell when we got there the fields couldn't be played on so they should have called it much sooner. Coach was ticked that all these little kids were there with thunder and lightning starting up. So anyway. Pictures some other time.

Beth and I are back from camping with the church group at Potato Creek. The weather was just about perfect all weekend; couldn't ask for better. It was almost unseasonably warm, actually. I took a half day off on Friday so we could get the camper packed up and set up early, but I wound up driving back out after we set up to pick up a few things we needed: a wrench to get the propane tank on, an extension cord so we could plug in, a bucket to drain out the gray water, and fans for both beds. The van also has started doing something I'm not really even sure how to describe. It would be almost like the transmission slipped or missed or didn;t catch or something. Apparently it's been doing that for the past week and Beth forgot to tell me. Some of the other men camping think it may be the transmission, swell. Anyway, I'm not sure how many families were with us but all the usual suspects were there, and a couple new ones too. The kids had planty of other kids to play with, which was nice. Saturday we watched the Myers kids while their parents ran out for a few hours, and took our kids and theirs to the beach in the park. I had been telling the kids it would probably be too cold to swim for a while, but I was wrong. Too cold for me, but not them. There were plenty of people swimming, and it was pretty cool water but kids don't care. I waded when I got too warm, the kids swam for a couple hours. Overall it was very pleasant down at the beach. Baked potato bar for dinner. Brian and I went geocaching in the evening, and fell into the same trap Virgil and Jack and I did last year: getting on the winding bike trails and walking very very far to get not very far at all. We were gone a couple hours to get one cache that was only 0.7 miles away when we started. Sunday the Myers watched our kids while we ran out to town and did a little shopping. They took all the kids to the beach again. All of the kids also had squirt guns and ran around playing with those a lot. As I said, it was very warm. Warmest Memorial Day camping for Beth and me ever. Taco bar for dinner. Geocached with Brian again, this time we stuck to the trail much better. Monday it started clouding up and cooling off while we packed up. The Myers' and us caravaned home and ate Chick-fil-a on the way. Did you know that kids can trade the toy in the kids' meal for free ice cream there? Awesome. The van only slipped a couple times on the way home, and stopped if I eased up enough.

The softball team lost once again, and got mercied doing it. We did score a run this time though. I was 2-for-2 with a couple nice hits, and almost made a Sportscenter catch on a fly that glanced off another guy's glove in the field. But not quite.

We've had a good week, except for missing tee-ball practice. Alex's second practice was supposed to be Wednesday, but it rained (again), and it was delayed until Thursday, unfortunately at the same time as Missy's preschool graduation. We went to that instead, and our baby girl is all grown up now! Not really, but she is so big and all ready for kindergarten. She even did the motions and sang the song ("I am a Promise." Never a truer word) which she didn't do last year. Alex was disappointed to miss practice but he'll get over it. Friday Beth had the kids at a garage sale at some friends house. We did the garage sale again Saturday (the massive Dells garage sale) and managed to make about $170 altogether, between old clothes and a few toys and things. We also sold all our old VHS movies (maybe 40-50 of them) for $20 for the lot, which frees up a lot of room. Afterwards, the other couple and us went out to dinner (paid cash), then Beth and I went to see "Star Trek," which we both really liked. Neat that they decided to head off the nerds with their inconsistencies between the movie and the original series by resetting the universe. Sunday, we went out geocaching in the afternoon with the McCoys, Myers, and all their kids (6 big people and 8 little people altogether) at Potawatomie Wildlife Park. We all had such a great time together. The kids all played great together running around, the newbies made some finds, we ran into some other cachers, and made a neat little ford of a stream after a long hike. There was a low point near the river and lake, and quite a bit of water was rushing across about 20 feet of the trail. Many large fish were actually trying to cross against the current there. But we had 2 wagons, so we loaded up the shoes and the kids and rolled up our jeans, and all crossed by wading across the stream. Great fun. Very cold.

The softball team was actually shut out today. Something like 9-0. That's rare; I don;t think we've been shut out in a long time if ever. Usually in church league, you can almost score a couple of runs by accident. But this week out entire team had 6 hits for the game and a lot of 1-2-3 innings. I was 1-for-2 with a nice fly single myself.

Back now from Michigan. Trevor got baptized today so Beth and I and the kids ran up there yesterday. The plan was to spend the night in the camper in John and Steph's driveway, but by Saturday the forecast was not good. Cold, cold, wet, wet. We were still in town at home Saturday afternoon, shopping at the new Menard's for Beth's Mother's Day present (a lilac bush) and it was looking worse and worse outside. So eventually was passed on the camper idea and just broke down and got a motel room on Priceline. This time, however, we were smart enough to get the extra half star in the rating, and for just a bit more money than last time we found a room at Country Inn down by the airport that was perfect. They even had a pool so we took the kids swimming after dinner (too cold, but we couldn't tell them no). Overnight it got cold enough that we decided the no-camper thing was a good call. The whole family went out to Burdick's after the service, and after lunch we went back to Pinksters to visit and took the kids for ice cream and to a park before heading out around dinnertime.

Opening night of softball was tonight, finally. It's been so cold and wet lately, but nice tonight. There are several new players this year, mostly teens, so maybe we'll do well. Anyway, we lost by blowing a lead. I was 1-for-3 with a nice rip and 2 weak popups. Today I also towed the camper back to Goshen again, because I was unable to properly raise it after it was fixed. The guide wire wasn't taut when the canvas was getting stretched, and I couldn't place the door where it was supposed to go. Turned out the guide wire was placed wrong, and I just needed to stretch the canvas a bit more to get the door in place. All fixed now.

Beth and I saw "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" last night. Pretty good stuff. We hired Linda this time to babysit because Katie had a prior commitment. Today we went back to Menard's so I could get the stuff I needed to make Beth a sawhorse thing to hang this year's crop of upside down tomatoes from. Friday was a family fun night at church, similar to last Wednesday. The sanctuary was cleared out so people could play basketball or volleyball (it's hard for two groups to play both at the same time in mostly the same space, but we did) and the pool and foosball was set up.