THE SMART CAR

MSRP: $16,590

I've been seeing these around town lately and I think they are so darn adorable. But then I also think I would not want to get in an accident in one of them. Until my husband informed that they are made of reinforced steel, supposedly very safe. Here is some more info on them....
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The idea behind the "Smart car" was to create a vehicle easy to park and short enough to allow "nose-in" parking. Its length of 250 centimetres (98.4 in) would equal the width of a regular parking slot, allowing two or three Smarts to park in the space as one normal car.

But is it safe?
A potentially bigger obstacle for Heidemann is convincing Americans that the smart cars — just over eight feet long — are safe.

The frame for smart cars is made of reinforced steel, creating what engineers compare to the way a walnut shell protects the nut.

In Europe's five-star crash rating system, the smarts get three stars.

Since introducing smarts in 1998, the carmaker itself has spent time and advertising money convincing Europeans on safety, touting a frame design it likens to a walnut, with high-strength steel beams reinforcing key areas.

Smart also likes to show off a 30-mph crash test between a smart coupe and a Mercedes sedan twice as big. "The passenger cell survived the collision almost unscathed," says spokeswoman Julia Knittel.

Other safety features on the manual transmission smarts include braking and stability technology usually found only on high-end luxury cars. And on hills, a start assist keeps the brakes on for just under a second to allow time for the feet to adjust.

HORSEBACK RIDING ON THE BEACH

We had a weekend at the beach planned with my parents. While we were there I had made reservations to surprise Steve for our anniversary with a horseback riding experience. He has never been on a horse before and has mentioned that he would like to sometime. I was able to find a company that was about 20 miles away from where we were staying.

We had reservations for 10 in the morning on Saturday. We left the house we were staying at and headed there and I contacted the guy when we were close and he said he was having trailer trouble and had misplaced my number...not starting out well. So instead of 10 we were now looking at noon. We didn't want to drive back to the house so we waited around until the outlet mall opened and did a little retail action. Not a bad distraction. We called him again after 11 and he said he was heading toward the beach and we could come earlier then noon.

So we got there and he was starting to unload the 3 horses. When we saw the 2 horses that we'd be riding we saw one was a little bigger and both Steve and I figured that was his horse. His name was Red and Steve started petting and bonding with him. Then we were informed that I was riding that horse. Apparently he needs a little more experience rider then the female named Astonia, which Steve was going to ride.

We started out going through the dunes and down onto the beach for awhile. When we came back we went up through the dunes again on some trails back by a bay and then we came back out onto the beach for the return. It was about a 7.5 mile ride and lasted almost 2 hours. He ended up extending it a little because he felt bad for the delay we had earlier.

Bill was very nice and very personable. We enjoyed our conversations with him while we rode and at times he'd even hang back and leave us alone. We liked how he wasn't so rigid about everything and he pretty much let us do what we wanted to do, within reason. He had my camera the whole time and took many pictures of us. We would totally recommend him and will most likely contact him again in the future. I've listed his website at the bottom.

As for Steve, he thoroughly enjoyed himself and said he'd totally do it again. He would just prefer a bigger horse next time. At first his horse wouldn't get out of a trot and I was laughing so hard watching him trotting down the beach. But then he got her into a gallop and he really liked running.

It was beautiful to be on the beach riding a horse. I've rode horses in the past but never on the beach and it was quite the experience.





SMALL WORLD FARM

CERAMIC PROJECT

When the kids were here this summer we went to a local ceramic store. I wanted to take all 3 kids in to get their handprints done in a clay mold. They grow so fast and I knew this would be something that we'd treasure.

While we were there we thought they might enjoy painting something. So we decided on 2 different mugs for us to drink our coffee out of. Didn't know it would take so long, but it did. We were going to have Mackenzie paint something too but she didn't want anything to do with it. It was a fight just to get her handprint!

I finally made it back to pick up the finished mugs and it took me about an hour and a half to paint the 3 plates. They go in for one last fire and then after a week I can pick those up. I will post a picture once I get them back.

Austin did the taller cup for his Dad and Valerie painted the other one for me. Interesting to see what their creative vision is at this age.

Never Forget...

Thought this would be the only picture appropriate for todays blog.

Started off my day witnessing President and Mrs Bush holding a moment of silence this morning in Washington.

Today at work we discussed 9/11. Some remembering where they were at the time of the attack. I grew up with parents remembering where they were when Kennedy was shot. Seems every generation has at least 1. I only wonder what it will be our kids will not forget.

6 YEARS

Today my husband and I have been married for 6 years. We are celebrating it in a couple weeks when we go to the beachhouse for a weekend. We are going with my parents so we thought that might be a good time to get away for an hour by ourselves.

About a month ago I got this idea from a lady I work with. She told me that her and her husband trade off every year planning the anniversary. I thought that was a great idea. It's both of ours so why should one person always get nominated to do something. When I had presented this idea to my husband he seemed ok with it. Especially since I told him I would take this year. So I have something planned for the weekend we go to the beach and I'm not telling him what is involved.

Today we thought maybe we'd go to the zoo but then backburnered that idea because of the heat today, new baby elephant, and grandparent's day. We figured it would be kind of crazy there. So instead we lazily went out for breakfast, which we seldom do. Came home and I had some errands to run while our daughter slept so I took full advantage of that window.

We went to the neighborhood park before sunset and also blew bubbles in our front yard. It seemed like just any other typical day which is good in a way too. Nice to not HAVE to make such a big deal about it on one particular day when the whole year should be just as nice too.

THINGS I LIKE

Did this awhile ago, thought I would post it here. If you haven't done this, you should. It's kinda' fun.

covered bridges
fresh sheets
frogs
caterpillers
a clean house
laundry done
my daughter's laugh
a warm bed
great books
an infectious laugh
candles
my husbands cologne
finding shells on the beach
new electronic gadgets
mild yardwork
hanging with friends
pedi's
new car smell
watching movies
tulips
a clean car
walk in closets
making memories
taking pictures to capture the moment
gettin away from it all
the beach, anytime
smell of baby lotion/powder
basking on tropical beaches
singing all the words to songs I know
diamonds and white gold
my TIVO
riding horses
great smiles
beautiful eyes
fresh cut hayfields
babies laughter
my family
smell of first rain
pouring hard rain and running outside barefoot to dance in it
painted toenails
coupons
thunderstorms
Fossil watches
tan skin
reality TV

WEIRD...

Saw this out on my walk last night. Seriously? Corn stalks growing in the front yard? I'm wondering if they think of it as a shrub? Is this the best place they had for a garden?
And then you can also see a couple tacky fake dark green plants on the front porch.
Just had to share.

LABOR DAY BBQ

Family came to our house for a BBQ. Had good food, played some outdoor games and had a great time. Not very often that all of our schedules mesh and we can all make it so it was nice to see everyone.

Kids and Grandkids

All of us

Amanda, Tim and baby Paisley

Me with Paisley

Tony and Rachel on his new bike