Memorial Day Weekend and AC Woes

Well, we had a busy and fun weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Parry came to visit for the long weekend. We spent a lot of time at the petting farm. Much to the delight of the girls. They even had their first pony rides! And even though the pictures show some serious faces, they really did love being on the ponies. The weather was actually rather chilly. Fortunate, since our AC is on the fritz. Moses fared well with his grandparents. Much better than the girls used to at his age.

Grandma and Mo - looking like a such a "big" boy 

 Whenever grandma and grandpa come, it always seems time goes by too quickly. The girls were sad to see them go on Monday morning. To lift the girls' spirits I took them to the store to get a couple kid-sized rakes and trowels. We bought some begonias and the girls helped me plant a couple hanging baskets. Oh they loved it - especially the dirt ;-)

Frances and Grace "Green Thumbs" Wacha

Our continuing issue right now is waiting for the AC to get fixed. Our stroke of luck with the cool weather ran out. It wouldn't be so horrible if the kids weren't stuck in the house sans AC all day, but they are. We brought the fan down from the attic and it helps a bit. And we have the ceiling fans on high in the bedrooms. We're really annoyed at BGEHome. We've had a service contract with them since 2007 - we pay monthly. This is the first time an issue has come up with our unit, usually we just have our run-of-the-mill inspection and all is good. They said $131 for a replacement part and that it was an "easy" fix. Well, the rookie tech they sent over last Friday, spent 5 hours on it only to realize he couldn't do what he needed to do and had further damaged our unit (set off fire alarms in the process!). He said, the new part he had to replace would be "on the company" since it was his fault... and hopefully they'd have it fixed by Tuesday or Wednesday. Well, Wednesday came with no word, so Richard called. They said they had ordered the wrong part and had to stop by to get the serial number again - a 2 minute job. It was 90 degrees on Wednesday. We notified the nanny, kept calling back for status updates, and no one came. Finally, late in the evening, the tech calls and says he'll have to come first thing in the morning on Thursday - yes, for a 2 minute job, while my kids are continuing to suffer. So he comes Thursday morning, gets the number, and places the order. Later in the morning Richard gets a call from BGEHome saying the part will be in on Friday and it will be $1,000!!! Richard asked why they were quoting him the cost since the tech said THEY would cover it. The customer rep gave him the run around so he asked for a manager to contact him. So the manager calls, hemming and hawing about how our unit is "old" and hard to find parts for, and copper is expensive. Well, Richard says, "Not my problem, your tech broke it." I pointed out to Richard that BGEHome installed the unit brand new in 2005, so it's not even 10 years old yet. What a racket. Plus, they broke that extra part! So long story, a bit shorter, they agreed to only charge us our original quote of $131. But not before trying to convince Richard to shell out $6000 for a new unit. I have to force myself to find time to register a formal complaint to the company, the state agency that oversees them, and the Better Business Bureau. In the meantime, they had said they would fix it on Friday and now they say Saturday, but more likely, Monday. What? Sounds like they are trying to "teach us a lesson"?? About what? How douchey they are? Believe me, lesson learned, at least on my end. Anywho, can you tell I'm annoyed?

Anyway the kids are sweating it out yet again, as well as the nanny. And with temps in the 90s through the weekend... yay! Extra cranky kiddos. Trying to convince Richard to clean up the basement so the kids can play down there where it's much cooler. We shall see.

I took Francie to the dermatologist today (Grace tagged along). She has had a bump on the middle of her eyelid for about 5 weeks now. Apparently it's molluscum contagiosum. Kind of like a wart but not as big. It's a virus. She had one before on her foot. The doctor said kids with eczema are more susceptible to these skin viruses since their skin immunity is lower. So she gave us some retinoid cream to put on twice a day to help "wake up" Francie's immune system to fight the virus. Ah well. Hopefully it will go away with-in the month. It is contagious though so I have to keep an eye out for other bumps on her or her siblings. But no worries. It will pass.

On the way back from the doctor this morning.
Wearing dresses that grandma bought them.
(Frances on left, Grace on right)

On the Moses front, his top two front teeth are finally coming in! He's pulling up like a champ and starting to cruise. He seems more agile in general than his sisters were. I have heard him say "ribbit" for frog a few times (no one believes me!). But that's about all that's new on the speech front. He understands "No" and can shake his head no. He loves clapping. And he really loves chasing after and playing with his sisters.