4th of July Fireworks...

Okay so we saw some fireworks but that's not what this post is about. I got a call Monday afternoon from Merril, who had taken the 2 little kids shooting.

Merril: "Hey babe, um I just rolled the Scout."

Me: "You rolled the Scout? Are you guys okay?"

Merril: "Yeah! The kids had seat belts on but we need the air compressor."

Me: "Is the Scout okay?"

Merril: "It caught on fire after that!"

Me: "Yikes!"

Merril: "I put out the fire with sand."

Me: "All right, I'm on my way!

So Maxine and I loaded up some snacks, cold waters, the air compressor and a whip flag and headed out to the sand dunes. I arrived at the trees at the sand dunes and found my children laughing and playing in the sand but looking like this:

Merril looked like this:

The Scout looked a little worse for the wear. The windshield cracked.

This dent became more dented.

And the hood got squished and smashed the air cleaner.

Here's the 3 of them in front of the rolled Scout. Jack wouldn't smile.

The Rescuers:

More details: So Merril was on the ridge of a dune and turned to go straight down but the front tire sunk in and the whole Scout slid sideways. Juliet said that Merril said, "Here we go!" The Scout rolled twice. Merril, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, held on for one slow revolution and then stepped out of the Scout. Juliet told me she closed her eyes tightly. I asked if it was because it was really scary. She informed me in a matter-of-fact tone that she closed her eyes because there was sand everywhere. Injuries were very minor. Something fell out of the Scout and bonked him on the back of the neck/shoulders. Juliet has one teensy bruise on her hip where the seat belt held her in. Merril's forearm got scratched somehow. Otherwise, everyone escaped just a little shaken.

The Scout landed on its tires so Merril jumped in and drove down the rest of the hill. The Scout started on fire because battery tie down broke loose and the batter cable was contacting the body and sparking. Merril threw sand on it and duct taped the cable and it was all fixed. I arrived with my little air compressor and snacks, we aired up the tires and drove home.

All the kids rode with me, incidentally.

Later Merril asked me, "Are you mad?"

I replied, "No I'm grateful, the kids had seat belts and no one was hurt."

(If he'd rolled the Jeep, instead of the Scout, I would've been mad.)

Kids, be safe.