Miata repair and paint job

My car was hit twice while parked outside and no amount of wax would buff this dent out. Luck would have it so it was the same front fender being hit each time but I think the attachment points underneath was moved a millimeter or two.. 

The worst part was how the fender made cuts into my tire as I drove, and it was a terrible sound! Also since the paint on this car is so bad after many years in the hyper bright California sun and parking on San Francisco streets I decided to give it new paint also. 

Here is the new front fender, in black primer which is very thin so I decided to give it an extra layer of primer before mounting it.

Front lamps was damaged by flying debris or a rock at some point and was full of water and dust.

Front bumper assembly had to be loosened in order to access the last bolt holding the front fender in place.

Front fender is off!

New fender is on!

Mattias came out to help me with the doors. He helped me remove the mirrors and the door handles, but first he had to remove the inside door panels. Not pain free! He also helped me remove lights and was kind to collect all parts in labeled plastic bags. He is pretty awesome!

You may also notice in this picture that the lower part of the car is white-ish. Thats because while the replacement fender is completely smooth, the car's original paint has a very bumpy orange peel looking paint on the lower part. I always hated the look of this so I decided to remove it by sanding it down. Now the whole car will be smooth when it is finished.
While initially expected to be a one weekend job, this job is has blown into a big one, it has now ballooned into its 4th or 5th week, and Im still looking at another 4-5 full days of work. Which in reality means another 3-4 weeks before it is done.
The reasons for taking so long are many. More than a few problems came up during the fender repair due to the damage to the car, so instead of taking 30-40 minutes to do the swap it took something like 6-7 hours over several days.
Going over the car more closely also revealed more problems with small dents that had to be filled and sanded as well as problems with the front bumper cover which had rotten paint that had to be completely removed. Im not sure if I was misinformed or missed an important part of the information I was given but you cant just use any type of paint remover on painted plastic parts and my result was swelling plastic..
I solved these problems but it all adds up and slows me down. This last week has also been incredibly cold (for California) and has further slowed down the process because the body filler takes much longer to cure, paint takes longer to dry, and it is just plain uncomfortable, but you can work really hard without breaking a sweat!

Thanksgiving 2013

Here is a great selection of pictures from last night, Thanksgiving. It was great to spend time with our norwegian friends having great food. 

 Pre dinner greeting

Espen checking out the wheels on his toy car

The Turkey was incredibly moist!

 Per serving the girls at their own table

Espen eats  

The side dishes 

 Caitlin prepping the food

Notes were taken 

Movie time after dinner. Toy Story in norwegian at 11PM!!!

No school Day - Play Date

Today was no-school day, but Lucia's classmate Veronica invited her for a playdate. Lucia had so much for that when we left she begged me to let her have a sleepover and cried most of the way home ( think mostly because she was exhausted and very hungry) Heres what she looked like after a 10 minute ride home:

Brudder and Sissy

Channeling Elton John

First day in new daycare

Espen had his first day at the new day care home today. He spent an hour there - with me - to get used to his new surroundings. The new place is well set up with a dedicated play room and sleep rooms, in addition theres a big yard with fruit trees and lots of grass and I think they will spend a lot of time out there.

Bodega Bay Trip

Why not take a nap? 101 was horrible on a Thursday night.. Accident up ahead and rush hour makes for slow driving - added 30 minutes to our 2 hour drive :(

Dinnertime! We arrived at the house just after dark, 7PM-ish, and had great foods waiting for us.  

Next morning art time! 

View from our bedroom. Not bad. 

 The back yard is huge and has great ocean views. 

Great weather this weekend. Usually this place is lost in thick fog, but we lucked out and can't spend enough time outside. Tonight hot tub time!

His new seat is a hit!

It is a great relief that Espen no longer has a raging fit every time he is placed in the car seat, these days he is quite content and is more likely to fall asleep than scream his lungs out. After getting his new seat things seem even better, and I think it has something to do with being up higher and able to see more?

Big sister, big help

Sweet potatoes are a hit!

New bed is finished!

The bed came in this very compact box weighing about 50kg (110,23lbs), mattress was simply rolled up, pretty impressive I think. 

First part done!

No whale tail but nearly there!

Because I took all the pictures it looks like Heather did ALL the work, not true!!
It was a 2 hour team effort..

Yay! Bed is completed but the rest of her room obviously need some love soon. Lucia cant stop jumping up and down. Lets hope her first night goes well and not forget she is a bit higher than usual...

Lucia

I asked her what she thought about her old bed and this is he look she gave me.

New bed!

We took a trip to IKEA last night to check out the bed we have been thinking about for Lucia. She has been in her current bed since she was no older than Espen is now and he needs to move in to a bed he can't climb out of..

Enjoying the evening

6 months checkup

It is hard work going to the doctor, but he checked out great. And we got a couple of vaccinations.

The wait can be long but the view from the doctors office is great

First tooth

Not easy to photograph something this small and fussy but you can easily feel it now: a sharp edge of a tooth inside a 3 mm wide dark strip.

6 months pictures

Espen seems to love some foods more than others, bananas are a hit while avocado is not so hot. But hey even beer is an acquired taste for some.

Here is another recent photo in his new Viking outfit. So awesome, we hope it still fits during the cold season, his head is so big... He is already sharing hats with Lucia!

Here he is in Lucias old car seat

This will be embarrassing 15 years from now ;)

Being driven around town is hard work apparently, but also important to note is that he no longer melts down all the time in the car!