We headed for home Sunday morning, but had a planned stop at IKEA in the Cities. That is such a fun store! Definitely cannot plan on making a real quick stop there, unless you know exactly what you want and where it is...and if you don't look at anything else! This was only the 2nd time I've been there and it was Aaron and kids' first time. The kids loved the children's rooms and toys area. We originally went in only planning on getting a new toddler high chair for Jacob and ended up walking out with that and some new toys/activities for the kids. My friend Jekka and her daughter Aria met us there for lunch. It was so nice to see her again and meet sweet little Aria. She is a doll!
So, back to Friday. The title for this post is exactly what the whole weekend was. Our van has been a total blessing from God ever since we got it a couple years ago. There have been some problems with it, but what vehicle doesn't?! The latest thing has been a pesky little battery light that has come on the last couple road trips. It had come on when we went to my parents' place in January, but had the alternator and battery tested and they were fine. The battery light hadn't come on since then...until Friday night. We were just North of the Cities when it came on again. The last time it came on, we had shut the van off and let it sit for a bit and the light went off and everything was fine again. So, we did that. It worked and we continued on our way. We got to the South side of the Cities (Lakeville) and the light came on again. It was time to stop and let the kids out for a minute before continuing on our way. Came back out to the van and the light was off and everything was fine. We were just a couple miles North of Faribault when the light came on again. I didn't feel like stopping again, so we just continued driving. We were only about 30 minutes from Gpa & Gma's so I thought we'd be able to make it. A couple miles outside of Faribault, the van didn't sound quite right, the radio was cutting in and out, and the clock was flickering. I started to pull off to the side of the road so I could shut the van off and let it sit for little bit. Just before doing that, it rev-ed up for a second, which scared me. We pulled off, shut it off and then when I tried to start it up again, it just clicked, but wouldn't start. Oh, no. Tried again. Still nothing. Tried a few more times while Aaron called Gpa. They started to get ready to come get us. I decided to try one more time. It first just clicked and then started up again! Praise God!! Now, let's see if we can get there. We were able to get to Gpa & Gma's just in time. As we were pulling into the garage, it did the little rev up thing again. Thankfully, we were able to get the van in to Gene's mechanic and found out we needed a new alternator. Here's where God's blessings come in to play again. Blessing #1: We were able to get a used alternator for $30 (new is around $200)! Blessing #2: The mechanic was able to work on it Saturday afternoon and get it done! Blessing #3: He only charged us $76 for labor, so total cost to fix our van was $106!!!! We were able to get our van fixed for A LOT less there than it would have been back at home. Praise God for getting us to our destination and orchestrating the whole repair!
Here's some pictures from Saturday!
Here's a few of Jacob trying to pet the ducks, goose, and chickens:
