Ellery's Big Girl Bed

Ellery has been growing up. How dare she?! While she still fits in her faithful old pack n play we were facing 2 problems. First, she discovered that she can climb out of it. Second, Holly has been getting in the pack n play with her at night to do bedtime stories, singing, praying, and snuggles. It’s a tight fit, and frankly, it might break. We started talking about transitioning to a big girl bed and Holly found some free plans online for an easy frame. We figured that making a bed would be an effective way to ensure quality and would also be a great culture and language learning experience as most of the process would be done with one of our language helpers, Kuya Veevoi.

We set out one Friday afternoon with high hopes to buy everything we would need. Our first stop was the supermarket to get Ellery’s mattress. It was 20% off which was a pleasant surprise since things are rarely on sale here. Then, we went to a home goods type store where we found some sand paper and some 2-inch screws, but they had no 2 ½ in screws. Next, we went to my favorite hardware in town and found some clear varnish and brushes, but no 2 ½ in screws. From there we walked to another hardware/home goods store in the market area and once again there were no 2 ½ in screws so we decided to drive out of town a bit and find another store.  We quickly found out they don’t have any either and we went to leave. Only to discover the van wouldn’t start…not even a sound. We asked around and were led to a guy who was 10 times more covered in grease than I have ever been. He grabbed a battery and headed to jump our car. We got it started right away and then had to figure out a plan.

At this point we were about an hour away from our mechanic and half an hour from home.  I was afraid if we shut the car off it wouldn’t start again. We decided to drive home and unload the car without turning it off, and then head straight to the mechanic. When we got to the mechanic he quickly figured out it was the starter, and I added a few other maintenance things to the list for him. From the mechanic, we walked to the nearby mall and headed to yet another hardware store where we found 2 ½ wood screws! Although they were close to $18 for 55, I was just glad we found them.

From there we hopped on a Jeepney to the bus terminal to catch a bus home. Things took longer than I thought, but I was just glad we got everything but the wood we would need for the bed. I was also glad that the car seemed to be a simple fix.

To be continued