Round in Circles

It all seems to go round and round in circles. Especially money. We ended up spending about $440 on DH's Saturn. It wasn't as bad as I initially thought, but the out of town towing totally bites and we added a new tire on top of the deal. I may actually turn this receipt in for towing with my insurance, which is something that I almost never do. I will have to think it over, because we've been claim free for quite some time. But, it was $95 and that's a chunk of change.

My parents came in to town this weekend so that we could take Hoot to his first rodeo. We had a blast, even if we didn't get to stay for the entire show. They had pony rides and a petting zoo set up in the exposition hall. Hoot was beside himself. I've never seen such well cared for and clean animals in a petting zoo. Not even at the zoo! In addition to the usual sheep and goats, these people had four deer, still young and spotted, a llama, a wallaby, and a kangaroo! Seriously, what kid comes home for a rodeo talking about a kangaroo? Well, mine.

The pony rides were also a big hit. This was the first time for Hoot to ride a real pony and he was super excited. The first ride was awesome. DH walked next to Hoot and he did really, really well. Later in the night, Hoot was a little tired of the rodeo, so we walked down to see if the petting zoo and pony rides were still open. After more kangaroo petting and chasing sheep, we went for another spin on the pony ride. I guess he was a natural, but got just a little too cocky. He did well for a bit, but then decided to go hands free. Seeing how much fun that was, he then began to lean back and be cool in the saddle. As there were no kids lined up to ride, it lasted quite some time. Perhaps too long. Hoot then began to try and spur the pony on. He kept telling it to pass the other ponies and go faster. We were tactfully and carefully told that he should enjoy his last ride of the evening. Dang. My son got blacklisted from the ponies! At least he didn't realize it.

I also spent too much money over the weekend. It's hard to not spend when my parents are here. They bought the rodeo tickets, so we bought dinner. I also spent a little more on groceries than I would've if we'd been alone all weekend. There is a chance they might be back later this week, depending on Dolly's projected path. But, we'll deal with that storm when it happens.

I made some progress on the rental car. I made reservations with Enterprise for our September trip with a rate of $19 a day. This was the first time I had seen this rate and be able to make a reservation that could be cancelled without penalty. So, I did that on Sunday morning. Then tonight, I found the same car through Hotwire, with Enterprise for $16.95 a day. Again, it wasn't a Pre-pay, but a reservation so I feel like prices are creeping down. I really hope to get to my $15 a day goal before we go.