Road Trip

We have a two car garage, but only one car can fit in the two car garage. Dave's been begging to work on the garage, but I've been super hesitant. In my mind I've had this vision of what it would look like if he started working on the garage while we're all at home. I picture Gus going out there about 15,000 times in his cowboy boots asking if he can help. And then Lucy would want to go out, too. And then Dave would let them watch and then they would decide to help. But help from a four year old and a three year old is not really help. It would end very badly and it would happen over and over again.

Meanwhile, I've been wanting to go visit my grandma in Indiana. It's a three day driving trip, because flying is way too expensive for me and my brood. So I asked my mom (who had also been wanting to go visit my grandma) if she would want to drive there with me like we did last year. She was so excited. Then we made sure Travis was free that weekend to meet us in Ft. Wayne. And then it worked that my cousin and her family could come visit, too.

And an added benefit of the trip was that it filled up the summer schedule a bit more. We spent Memorial Day with Dave's parents and got home Monday night. Dave had class Tuesday and Thursday night. We had DateNight at church on Friday night and we left Saturday morning at 6 and didn't get home until 7:30 Monday night.

Our kids do great in the car. They love watching movies. Judson isn't too wild about the movies, but it helps him pass the time. So we rotated movies the whole way there. We kept a pull-up on Gus, just in case, but the kid did great. He didn't have a single accident while we were there.

We met Travis on Saturday night and went out to dinner with him. He had poison sumac and it was oozing and gross. I'm horribly allergic to poison ivy, so we can only assume I'm allergic to the poison sumac. So we couldn't touch him and he couldn't pick up the kids. It was so, so, so hard. Usually when we're around Travis we go man-to-man with kids and it's so easy, but he was like a statue they couldn't play on. It was terrible. We were super happy to see him, though. The kids loved it!

On Sunday morning we went to visit with my grandma. She knew who we were, which was wonderful. The kids were perfect. There's so much I wish I could tell her and sit and talk with her about, but she doesn't understand. I've been wearing her jewelry nearly every day for the past year. I love it so much. I wish she knew how much I loved it and how grateful I am to have it. It was so good to see her and tell her to her face that I love her and hear her tell me the same. I really miss her.

After we visited with my grandma, mom and Travis went back to the hotel for naps. The kids and I ate at Culver's for lunch. I haven't eaten there since we lived in Bloomington. It was good, very good. I drove to the mall, because I remembered the carousel from last year. The kids took quick naps in the car and then we walked around the mall and rode the carousel. They loved it.

My cousin Sara and her family met us back at the hotel. We haven't seen each other since my shower for Lucy. And now we have families, for real. We're not just dabbling in the family thing, there are five kids between us, and Lucy is the oldest. The kids played at the hotel for awhile and then we all went to Bob Evans for dinner. When we were three or four Sara and I have a picture of us standing in front of Bob Evans, and now here we are all grown up, and we have a picture of our kids standing in front of that man's place. The time went by way too quickly. I was thrilled that our kids could meet and that I could meet her kids and vice versa. I just wanted to hole up in a room with Sara and sit and talk and catch up on the past five years. Alas, we have five young children between us. Lucy was beyond ecstatic to meet her cousins. She loves the concept of having relatives that are her age. The whole way home she kept saying, "I got to meet my cousins!"

Anyway, we left at 6:20 Monday morning. Somewhere around Greensboro (about an hour and a half away from home), Lucy said, "Mommy, my bottom REALLY hurts from sitting. But if I push up on my hands, it doesn't hurt as much." We stopped in Burlington for about 20 minutes so the kids could play. We made it home, unpacked the car, and I gave the kids baths and had them in bed by 9:30.

The garage looked amazing. We literally had Mt. St. Box that I would scale (it was probably 10 cubic feet) to find things. When we pulled in the garage, Mt, St. Box was no more. Dave did an awesome job. It was very impressive. I think we'll have both cars in by the end of the summer.

One of the best things about the road trip, was the repercussions of being in the car for 26 hours in three days. The kids missed their toys and playing at home so much. On Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't hear much from Lucy and Gus, they spent the days in the bonus room playing, imagining, creating. It was fantastic.