Walter, you might want to check your garage, carport and vehicles for signs of mice. One of my after retirement jobs was as a bookkeeper at an auto repair shop. Rodent damage was one of the most expensive repairs we did - rats, mice, and squirrels love, love, love those electronic wires in cabins, trunks, engine compartments, heating/AC ducts, and wheel wells. Electronics are super expensive to fix and the bills were often several thousand dollars. Worse yet, once rodents get in a vehicle, they will come back - apparently they follow each other's phenomes to cool nesting spots.

Stupid, stupid me, I forgot a bag of dog food in the back of my car, and didn't remember until I ran out of dog food in the house. By then, my car had been invaded by mice and kibble by kibble, they had packed about half of that 40 pound bag of dog food inside the Heating and AC ducts. I tried everything, and nothing could keep those rodents out of my car. It wasn't long before my car stank to high heaven and we had it hauled away.

At the shop, we finally figured out that rodents get used to a deterrent and ignore it, so you have to change your deterrence method every few weeks. There are many suggestions on-line, but switching them up, constantly, is the only thing that seems to work.

The very best deterrent, is a really good mouser (cat).

PS Loved your story, made me remember the time my girls were as young as yours.