Making Lemonade out of Lemons

Troy and I are in the market for a minivan.  I am more excited about this than Troy, but the reality is that we are driving two old cars and we need a new car.  And, the truth is, we are in the minivan stage of life right now and are ready to embrace that.  We know what we want, but finding it has been challenging.   We will be buying a used van and it can be difficult to find just the right one without breaking the bank.  So, we were very excited when we saw what seemed to be a really good option online early last week.  The only slight problem was that it was located at a dealership in Highland, IN about an hour and a half from where we live.  Well, we didn't really think that was that big of a deal to make a trip up to see the van, but last week was very busy, especially for Troy, and we wouldn't be able to go until yesterday.  Troy had been on the phone with people at the dealership, finding out more about the van and as of Thursday late afternoon, the van was still there.  So, the plan was set....Friday morning we would put the girls into our 1999 Honda Accord and make the trip up to see what could be our new car.  We were serious.....like if everything looked good we were going to buy it that day and drive it home.  We were ready.

We pull into the Honda dealership in Highland, Indiana.  We get out and start looking around the lot for the van we saw online.  I was almost to the point of calling it "our van".....we just needed to see it.  As we are looking around the lot, one of the salesmen comes out and asks us how he can help us.  We tell him that we are there to see the 2008 Honda Odyssey that we saw online.  He says, "Oh, we just sold that van last evening."  Time kind of stood still for a minute.  Troy and I were looking at each other but didn't know what to say.  We just drove to Highland, IN to get "our van" except it wasn't there.  We were stammering around and the salesman says, "Used Odysseys that are priced right don't stay around very long."  In my head I am thinking, "Ummmm, yeah, we know this....that is why we just drove 100 miles to get this van."  Troy and I start trying to wrap it up, saying thank you, but ready to just get back into the 1999 Accord and drive away.  As we are walking away with our heads down, the salesman tells us you never know when they might get a new one in and asks if we live in the area.  I say, "No, we live in Lafayette.  We just drove up this morning."  I think he immediately started feeling sorry for us and at this point I am sure we looked like our puppy just died so he got on his cell phone to make calls to his car guy friends to see if anybody had anything we might want.  No, they didn't.  Back into the Accord we went.....defeated.

We pulled out of the Honda dealership in Highland, IN of all places.  Random.  Troy and I were so disappointed and it was taking us some time to recover.  Our sweet girls were being such good troopers and we all needed some lunch.  We found a place for lunch and talked over the whole situation.  By the end of lunch I was laughing about the whole thing.  Just thinking about what we must have looked like talking to the car salesman and how we were stammering around.  It was cracking me up.  But it still felt like a huge punch to the gut.  As we were finishing up lunch we were talking about how we were pretty close to Chicago and maybe we should go.  I no less said it and Troy said, yes, let's go. The day was going much different than we thought it would, but we were going to have to make lemonade out of lemons.

The closer we got to Chicago, the better we were feeling.  Kyla couldn't believe how tall the buildings were and we ready to be together as a family and redeem this day.

Looking up at all the tall buildings

Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we got there Troy got a call that one of the air conditioners at church was broken.  Adding some more lemons, but we were all about making lemonade.

Looking at ourselves in "the bean" at Millenium Park

Hello, Chicago

 Our big girl in the big city

 Running free

Ashlyn checking out the big fountain

Daddy and his girls

Sometimes Ashlyn draws a crowd....this sweet lady stopped and talked with her.  In the back, Troy was still dealing with the air conditioner situation.

Ashlyn found out you can play hide and seek anywhere....even in the middle of a big city

Hiding

Daddy found me

Ashlyn and I

On Lake Michigan

Sweet daddy and daughter moment

"Hi, Geese!"

Kyla loving it

Making our way through the city streets

Time for pizza

Ashlyn checking out the menu

Yummy

Sisters in the city

This fountain made Ashlyn so happy

Kyla too

Making it up the steps all by herself

Happy girl

Us three girls

We did not drive home with the van we wanted.  But, we definitely did redeem the day.   A last minute decision to go to Chicago was a great one.  We had a blast together and we loved seeing the city through the eyes of our girls.  It turned out to be such a special day and by the end of it we got lemonade from lemons.