The Trip - We're Baaaack!

Tuesday at 3 pm Mom, Nan, Big Sis, Mr. C and Lil Bro set out on our journey right on time.  I was so proud of us!  Dad and Miss M did not join us on this trip.  Dad stayed home to finish the tile floors and Miss M had a visit at Grandma's house.  She is doing so well and has not had a rage in over 2 months but in the past travel and staying at a hotel and what not has been a huge struggle for her.  She only stays at home in her own bed or at Grandma's house and she feels comfortable with that.  The last two times she went to play at my friends house (who has the needed experience and skills to keep everyone safe) she asked to go home early.  So on the road to healing we don't rock the Miss M boat.  If Dad had been going along then I think she could have handled the trip.  Next time!

On with the journey:

Tuesday at 3:21 pm the first spat broke out between Big Sis and Mr. C.

Tuesday at 3: 47 pm we received the first "Are we there yet?"

We traveled until 9 pm and then stopped at a hotel in South Carolina.  We continued on our journey the following day, getting back on the road at 9:15 am.  We arrived at our destination only 3 hours later than expected, for the Loo-Loos that's not too bad.  Just in time for dinner - yes!

All in all the drive up was not bad and the kids really did well for their ages and the length of time that had to be spent in the van.  They watched videos, played leapster, didj or DS games and wrote books and colored.  My van looked like a rolling trash can on the inside but hey.

Why yes the future doctor did travel with 'the book'.

The kids were able to play in the fall leaves, which was a huge treat for the Florida kids.  The ages of the kids were 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 3 and 5 weeks - lots of fun to be had!  The friend that I was visiting had been waiting literally for years for a referral through the foster care system.  An amazing opportunity came their way in mid October and they were able to be at the hospital when their new daughter was born.  I can't post a picture of her because she is a foster child at the moment, they are still waiting to finalize the adoption, but be assured she is a cutie!

Then we headed to my Mom's for a visit.  My kids were instantly comfortable and went right to getting into the toys and crafts.  I realized that I do things very similar to the way my Mom does things - regarding the kids.

This is my niece J and she is PRECIOUS!  The stairs at my Mom's house were a big hit!

The kids took over my Mom's din in no time.

This is my nephew W, he and Big Sis enjoyed my Mom's pumpkin pie.

Big Sis and J played with my Mom's pet mice.

Mr. C fell in love with Buddy the lab.

From Mom's we headed out to Wal-Mart vision center because Mr. C had managed to snap yet another pair of glasses.  It took us traveling to two different Wal-Marts but we were able to have them replaced, which was great because Mr. C was falling all over the place and his eye was turning really badly.

Then it was on to my brother's house where we crashed for a few days.

This is my brother C.  He is not going to be happy that I put his picture on the blog. :-) 

Sisters are good for stuff like that.

My brother lives on 5 acres in the woods, this is his front yard.  Pretty cool!

My nephew is 9 years old and wears a mans 9 shoe.  He is the sweetest kid ever!

My adorable niece again! 

She gets those eyes from her Mama but you will have to take my word for it because I did not take a picture of her Mama.  My bad!

This is my Dad, he came to visit us at my brother's house.

Lil Bro was a bit of a pain this trip; I guess it was his turn.  He did not like the change in routine or being with out his Dad and he had some not so lovely tantrums on this trip.  Some of the comments were, "He has a good set of lungs." and  "He sure is determined."  Nothing like having to give your kid a time out at someone elses house.  Gotta love it! 

All and all it was a great trip.  We left my brother's house Sunday around 7 am, it was 29 degrees outside!  We had some travel challenges on I 95 south bound through the state of South Carolina and so we decided to hang it up and stay the night at a hotel.  We arrived home Monday at around 4 pm. 

Miss M had returned from Grandma's on Sunday.  She did really well with the unexpected change of Mom not being home.  She really seems to have developed a "bounce back" factor that she did not have before.  Dad did really well on his own regarding getting Miss M ready for school and such.  He forgot her lunch but that was a good excuse for Miss M to call Mom from school.  She said, "Dad forgot my lunch box."  I did not mention that I was still 2 states away, I just assured her that I would call Dad and her lunch would be there on time.  In reality Dad forgot to pack her lunch box so he brought money and she got to buy lunch.

This morning the kids returned to their normal routine and got off to school with out a hitch.

Dad did not get the floors completely finished as planned but he had some unexpected delays when he found that 9 of the tiles already down needed to be pulled up and replaced.  I am still cleaning debrey from the pulling up part.  A quarter of the living room still needs to be grouted but we will get that done in the evenings when the kids are asleep.  What he did get finished is a professional job and I am sure the floors will last longer with the extra effort he put in to them.

Good times, good times!