I don't know what we were thinking, but we took a little road trip over the long weekend. Little... HA! We drove to Nebraska to see my sister and my parents. Its was "only" 1000 miles each way. Mapquest said 13 hours, but it was more like 14 when you make stops. It all started with a note that Chris left me Friday morning. It said that Nebraska was only 13 hours away and if I wanted to go see my parents and sister, we could go for the weekend. My sister just moved and my parents drove out to help her. Wow. So my head was spinning for most of the morning. I called my sister (and woke her up), called my Grandma for my moms cell #, called Chris to see what the heck he was thinking, and went to work thinking fun idea, but probably not.
While at work, I think I changed my mind about 50 times in the 5 hours I was there. I talked to Chris, and he was still upbeat and I thought - what the heck. I got the kids home in the afternoon thinking no, but for whatever reason I packed the kids and myself, and started gathering everything we would need, called the neighbor to feed the dog, etc. In the back of my mind I'm still thinking, no way. Chris got home, I talked to my sister, and ultimately just said yes. We left at like 6:30/7pm and drove almost the entire night. Almost 10 hours. We stopped in the middle of Nebraska, then got up and drove the last 4 hours. Then we got to spend Saturday afternoon/evening, Sunday, and Monday until 3pm with them. We got my sister mostly moved in. They have a few rooms set up, and many of the boxes put away. The big stuff is done, and now they have the forever task of sorting, and finding those little things that disappear. (Like the bookshelf pegs) They have a very nice house though. Huge basement. I am so jealous of their shelving. Its like food storage heaven.
It was such a nice trip. It would have been nice to not get in the car again, but even that wasn't all bad. Since we did 80% of it at night, the kids slept. I have amazing kids. Can I just say that?? Not once did Eli complain about sitting and little Nathan who I was convinced would scream for 1/2 the trip only cried when he had pooped or he was hungry. He would wake up crying for a minute, but then go back to sleep a few times - but that was it!!! I was and am still absolutely shocked. I think that made all the difference. On the way home, we just did it all in one trip. We didn't even bother stopping. We switched off several times so between that and a bit of caffeine, we got home at 5am. What a whirlwind. Chris has to be to work at 6pm tonight, and I hope he survives. My head hurts a little but at least I get to sleep. He has to work.
Anyway, overall I really enjoyed my trip. I am so thankful that Chris thought of it, and I was able to see my family. Ultimately the thought I had going through my head was... why wouldn't I take every opportunity for my kids to spend time with their grandparents. I hadn't seen my dad in like 2 years, and yes we'll see them in July, but its only for a few days. We try to do a set of grandparents each year, but its hard. Once every other year is a lifetime to these kids. Literally. I think we just need to take opportunities when they arise, and make the best of it. It wasn't the most ideal trip because it was so short, but every little bit counts. It may be a year before I get in a car again, but I know we can do it now.
I think it eased my mind about road trips too. Not that I would want to do them often, but they won't be out of the question. I think you always get nervous about your kids and how they'll react but Eli is getting older and he is entertaining Nathan more and more. I think next time I might like to wait until Nathan is a bit older and can join Eli in his videos, snacks and games. I think there were a few points where he was just bored.
So I did bring my camera but of course didn't break it out until the last few hours that we were there. Oh well. I didn't get any great ones, but I got a bunch of the babies. We'll have to get good ones of Grandma, Grandpa and the kids, and mom and dad with the kids and the more formal ones over the family reunion in July.
{KONK} My dad used to do this with us when we were kids. *Konk* I love you, *kiss*
My niece Cecelia. She is 2 weeks older than Nathan.
The grandbabies
Cecelia is CRAWLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::EEK:: (Good luck to you Erin) ;)
Trip to the park. This was both Nathans and Cecelias first time on the swings. Nathan was a little tired, but the swing just dwarfed him. I don't think it helps that he was slouching. Like mother like son?? I hope not. Compared to Cecelia, Nathan is the most expressionless little boy on the planet. He just sits there with his observing gaze. No smiles, no yells, just observes. The swings were no different.
(no, he isn't sleeping here)
Just so you can get a visual of the difference in these 2 children. LOL!
Cecelia actually enjoyed herself!!
We moved Nathan forward a little and that seemed to help.
Hmm... not sure what happened to the color in this one. Oh well.
And poor Eli. He was off digging in the sand with Grandma with this tractor arms thing, but my camera died before I could make it over to him. I love you Eli! Don't be mad that there are no pictures.
He is growing up so fast. This morning he came into my room and I said "Happy Birthday Eli!" He rubs his eyes and looks down at his hand. He pulls out 4 fingers and asks... am I this many today? I said yes, and he pumps his fist and raises his knee and goes "YES!" Although I have days that I can't decide if he is 2 or 7yrs old. He just cracks me up. Its sad to think that he is going to be starting preschool in the fall. He's not big enough for that yet! But I think it'll help him. Just this morning we had his invitations for his party and he wanted to know which one was Alex's. So I asked him what the letters were, and he said A-L-E-X and then what sound each letter made... and I think it was probably the X that tipped him off, but he figured it out.
