It is so choice...

I highly recommend picking one up, if you have the means. Okay, a brief synopsis: the insurance company informed us this past Tuesday that they were totaling the Stratus. Apparently it costs upwards of $5K just to replace the airbags and sensors that set them off, and the Stratus was not even close to being worth that much so it wasn't a huge shocker. They said we would get $3K for it, which we were extremely happy with considering it was badly dented in the back, had power nothing and didn't even have working a/c. So after much heated debate, we decided on the Honda CR-V and have been searching for and haggling over one for the last several days. We went and picked it up today and it's SO AWESOME!!! It's dark blue with grey interior; we sprung for the nicer model so it also has a power sunroof, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, an in-dash 6 disc CD changer and this cool storage shelf thing in the trunk. We got a really good deal on it, even though we had to drive all the way to Alexandria to get it. Oh well, it was worth it!!! Paul is still a little sad that the Stratus is gone, but is excited to have a/c on the commute now. I went and scrubbed down the Neon for him tonight so he has a clean car to drive to work on Monday. I think it looks pretty darn good! The poor thing is pretty beat up on the outside (just a bunch of little dings and scratches) but it still runs just fine! Who'd have thunk it?!

Here are some pictures of our sweet new wheels. Just don't start asking us for rides...

I drive a Dodge Stratus! (maybe)

Bryce and Lauren arrived here safely last night and came straight to our house for some food and a quick visit with Ethan and Jabba. I volunteered to drive them to their house because Ethan threw a total hissy fit when Paul left for the airport and I didn't want to deal with that again. So we got in the Stratus (all their luggage was in there) and headed across town to their summer abode and right at the intersection by Wal-Mart (less than 1/2 mile from their house) WHAM! The light was green so I was going through the intersection when some guy decided to turn left at the last second and totally ran right into us. The airbags in the Stratus deployed (which, I admit, I was impressed it even had) and the other guy's car spun out 180 degrees. The smell of the powder from the deployed airbags was suffocating and Lauren couldn't even open her door (she was riding shotgun) because the door and front right tire were pinned in. The right headlight was smashed, the bumper is all screwed up and the hood is slightly wrinkled. All told, our car looks much better than the other guy's. Luckily there was a car right behind this guy in the turn lane and the woman driving saw the whole thing and backed us up. She called the police and stayed to tell them what happened. The other driver went off to the hospital but the police officer said it was nothing big and he thought the guy just wanted to leave the scene since his driving record was less than stellar. They towed our car away and the officer gave us a lift to the Bewley's house (where L&B are staying). I talked to the officer again this morning and he said the other driver accepted responsibility and was charged with Failure to Yield. His court date isn't until the end of next month, and we don't have to go unless he changes his plea and gets a continuance, in which case we'll have to go testify in August some time. Everyone is fine; I have some nasty bruises on my right arm (still trying to figure out just how that happened) but nothing major. I'm not sure about the car. The insurance company should be out today to appraise the damage and give us an estimate. Since it was the other guy's fault we don't have to pay, which is a very good thing because we have a $1000 deductible on that car. Of course I'm hoping it's our chance to get rid of the Stratus, but I don't think Paul sees it that way. Boo.

We're back!

Well, Russia was a blast but we're finally back in the good ol' USofA. We went to St. Petersburg while we were there, which was very fun. Kinda smelled like fish, but very pretty- very European looking. It almost never got dark; I remember waking up at like 3 a.m. and it still looked like it was about 8:00 on a summer night. Crazy. The hotel didn't have a crib so Ethan slept on a fold-out bed, which was interesting. We'd wake up in the middle of the night to see the bathroom door open and Ethan asleep in a heap on the floor. I was actually surprised at how easily he went to sleep on it at night, but that's probably because he didn't nap and didn't get to bed till 9:00.
We went to a ballet there called The Magic Nut, which was hands down the WEIRDEST thing I have ever seen. It was supposed to be a precursor to The Nutcracker but was just completely weird. There was one scene in particular where the characters were going through an underwater world and there were dancers in fish costumes, including a "voluptuous" frog which was trying to seduce the main character. There were also jellyfish with big smiley faces on their tops. Very bizarre. Bryce was totally nodding off through most of it. : ) We also saw a bunch of palaces and very pretty gardens in St. Petersburg, along with an extremely large art museum. The fountains at Peterhoff outside the city were stunning- the Russian version of Versailles.
A few days after we got back from Petersburg, Paul and I left for London by ourselves. It was so much fun, despite the horrible exchange rate. We went to Big Ben/Houses of Parliament first and watched Parliament in session, which was kinda cool. Then we walked around that area, took some pix of Westminster Abbey, then walked up to Picadilly Circus and ate dinner in London's Chinatown, which was really good. After that we went to see Spamalot, which was awesome. Very good. The next day we started out at the Tower of London and just happened upon one of the guided tours by the Yeoman Warders. It was really cool; of course we got to see the Crown Jewels and all the armor, etc. After that we walked across the Tower Bridge and walked by the Globe Theatre, then went to the Tate Modern Art Museum. We didn't stay there very long because we wanted to get to St. Paul's Cathedral and the British Museum. The BM was a lot of fun; they have so much stuff! We saw the Rosetta Stone and tons of mummies, of course. When we were done there we went to Harrod's and had dinner in their food halls. The next day we went inside Westminster Abbey then walked over to Buckingham Palace. Then we went to the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. The rest of the day was mostly shopping- Covent Gardens, Oxford Street, Portobello Road. Fun but exhausting. We left the next day, back to Moscow. The last two days in Moscow we did a cruise on the Moscow River and went to a Russian circus. The circus was really impressive even though Ethan lost interest about halfway through. Those are the main highlights, I think. I'm probably leaving something out but that's all I can think of for now. Here are a few of the best pictures from the trip.