It was Boat Show weekend in Providence. Skipper had a play date with his friend Arlo on Saturday so I took Hank. We went on every sailboat (and there were quite a few). He scrambled around like he'd been on boats all his life. He liked them all except for a Tartan 34. He put his head down below and came right back announcing to everyone that it "stinks down there." He was right. There was a very strong smell of Fiberglas.

When Skipper got home, he was pretty upset that Hank had gotten to go to the Boat show, and he hadn't. So guess what. Today Hank had a play date with his friend Sam, so I took Skipper to the Boat Show. I said to Skipper "Should we eat lunch at the Boat Show?" "Yes" he replied "Hank told me that that the hot dog buns stay together there." This is a pet peeve of there's. Many of the hot dog rolls at concessions fall apart at the seam when you try to eat them. Not at the Boat Show.

Once again, we went on every sailboat. When we got to the Tartan 34, Skipper made it halfway down the companionway before flying back up complaining about the odor. The sales agent said "That is a fresh boat - just in from the factory, but your two boys are the only ones who have complained!" I guess we're not buying a Tartan 34 - even if we had $175,000.

I recently purchased my first new car in over 10 years. My friends in Escondido will be happy to learn that I am now a proud owner of a Mazda. It's an MPV not a Miata, but it's still nice to have a new car without the weekly maintenance headaches of a 100,000 + mile Golf.

The boys love it, and we've taken trips to the Mystic Aquarium and the new Ikea that we would never have taken in our old Volvo 850. We've retained the Volvo but just for use around the neighborhood. Sarah has come to like the Mazda too and we are already planning trips for the Summer. Now the boys are after me to have DVD installed for middle row viewing.