On Saturday afternoon, we loaded up the van and made our way to Appleton to visit my family. My sister just started selling Scentsy and was getting ready for her big grand opening party that night. If you've ever tried to go anywhere with kids, you know it always takes ten times longer than expected. I was excited that we were actually doing well on time, even with a "quick" stop at the bike shop...until we were half way there and noticed the driver next to us on the highway trying to get our attention.
Ted slowed down and the other driver drove up alongside us to mouth the words "your back tire is flat". We immediately pulled over and, sure enough, our back tire on the passenger side was flat as could be and was giving off a strong burning rubber smell. Ted searched for the spare tire, but, since our van has stow n' go seats, we determined there was either no spare tire or it was impossible to find. And, of course, we had bought the van used so we had no manual to look for the location of the mysterious spare tire. Thankfully we have Roadside Assistance with Geico, so Ted called them up right away...as a police officer pulled up behind us.
While Ted was on the phone with Geico, I rolled down my window to talk to the police officer, who seemed rather annoyed that we had pulled over on the side of a busy highway. He couldn't seem to understand why we hadn't just simply pulled off the highway, but clearly there was no way we were driving any further on a flat tire. He waited while Ted confirmed that a tow truck was on the way, but kept reminding us how unsafe it was to be stranded on the side of a busy highway...as if we didn't already know.
As soon as we confirmed a tow truck was on the way, we realized there was no way three kids with car seats and two adults were going to fit in a tow truck. I called my dad and he immediately drove over with his van, but he was about a 20 minute drive away. The police officer who was noticeably annoyed at our predicament had left and a new police officer pulled up behind us just as the tow truck arrived. Somehow it was then decided that Ollie and I would ride in the back of the police car while Ted took Valerie and Almanzo in the tow truck so we could get off the highway and meet my dad at the closest gas station.
Almanzo and Ollie had been sound asleep until the tow truck arrived and were very confused and disoriented when we woke them up. We told them we were on a big adventure and Almanzo was excited to get to ride in the "big truck" and that Pappi was on the way to rescue us. It was rather strange climbing into the back of a police car with a huge baby belly and a toddler in a car seat. It was a tight squeeze and I was glad we didn't have to ride for very long. Ollie was giggling the whole way and nearly burst with excitement when we arrived at the gas station to see Pappi. We sure caused quite a scene at the gas station!
Ted then strapped the car seats into my dad's van and I road with him and the kids to my parents' house while Ted continued on with the tow truck to the nearest auto shop. The kids couldn't wait to tell my mom and my sister about our great big adventure. Ted didn't arrive for another two hours and was rather annoyed that we had to replace a brand new tire, but we all laughed about the sight of me with a huge belly climbing out of a police car and the humor of strapping car seats into a tow truck and police car that are clearly not meant for car seats. It's just another one of those "making memories" moments, because there's clearly never a dull moment around here!
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