My parents strike again

We had a really fun week with my parents while they were out here. They got to spend lots of time with Ethan, which meant Mia and I got lots of time to be alone. A situation that everyone, including Ethan, was happy with.

The Grandparents took him to the Aquarium, Children's Science Museum, parks, the mall, pretty much anywhere they were going he went along. Ethan had a great time with them. My dad thinks that he's not going to remember their trip (in the long term probably true) but he does have a good memory now for these sorts of things.
In fact, his favorite little game to play lately is to go around saying "Tut, tut. Looks like rain."

Mia and I had chances to go out to movies (Simpsons) and dinner and just relax. We slept in everyday, and no I won't tell you what time we woke up each morning. We needed the time and were grateful to my parents for letting us have it.

But... there is a dark side to my parents visiting. Every time they visit (and I think it really is every time they've come together) something goes terribly, terribly wrong with one of our cars. We wouldn't mind if we had to change a tire or a headlight.

Sadly, this is not the case.

The year Ethan was born my alternator died and I couldn't move my car off the street the night before a big snowstorm that was deemed a snow emergency and got my car towed. I had to have it re-towed over to a shop to get my alternator replaced.

Another year, we had to replace all the brakes and rotors on one of our cars. Fortunately we caught it before they failed like when I was driving an old Ford and my brake line snapped while I was driving on the Mass Pike. (Or more specifically, while I was swerving to avoid someone that had cut me off and then stopped suddenly. Fortunately, I didn't crash.)

This time one of our cars had been making a loud growling noises, which we assumed was just some sort of muffler failure. We should have known better. When I took the car into the shop they informed me that the exhaust system needed an overhaul. The catalytic converter had to be replaced, the connection back to the muffler was broken, basically a lot of work. Oh, and a new front axle to boot.

Now, I know that we really can't blame my parents. That's just not logical... unless... there is a rumor that my dad might be a covert operative. Maybe he practices disabling enemy vehicles on our cars to make sure that his techniques work. But I'm sure that's a crazy theory.

Well, whatever happens, we are glad that they come see us, even if it is just for Ethan ;)