And We're Off!

Thursday, June 14

After a later-than-normal night and an earlier-than-normal morning, our clan finally piled into the Suburban, ready to begin our Great Road Trip.  I would like to say that our spirits were high and we sang joyfully as we drove away, but unfortunately, the truth is we were all rather tired and grumpy.  I had wanted to leave our house by 6:30 a.m.  We pulled out of the driveway at 8:33 a.m.  Honestly, that really isn't bad when I consider how many people (plus all their STUFF) we had to coordinate, but with 630 miles to drive and friends waiting for us in Kansas, I was hoping to start sooner rather than later.

Our seating arrangement:
Front:  Ted and me
Middle:  Zaden, Lucan, Tobin
Back:  Kenna, Charis, Arden

Not an hour into our journey we hit major traffic due to an accident east of Indy.  We crawled along for an hour, going roughly 10 miles during that time.  Meanwhile, Charis was struggling with motion sickness in the back of the truck.  Thank the Lord for Ziplocks.  (Yes, that's plural--after two episodes, she felt much better.) 

More traffic west of Indy.  Potty stops right after the baby FINALLY dozed off.  Fighting.  Bickering.  Flailing.  Lost shoes, books, buddies.  Tears.  Whining.  Yet another potty stop.  (We averaged 30 minutes per potty stop, but the good news is I was able to nurse the baby during that time, and Lucan used the potty, too!  Not that his diaper was ever dry, but still.  Progress.)

Zaden never did nap, poor baby.  Every time he would doze off, sucking his thumb, Lucan would shout, "NO, BABY ZADEN!" and grab his thumb and pull it out of his mouth.  Lucan also "kindly" threw various toys at Zaden and Tobin, making sleep for Zaden and reading for Tobin a near impossibility.

After 14 extremely long hours, we pulled into Craig and Mimi's driveway.  What a relief!  And what a blessing to spend time with them and get to see their gorgeous new home that they had custom built.  Last time we were in Kansas, I got to see the land they had purchased nearly a decade ago, and they showed Ted and me the unprofessional blueprints they had sketched out themselves as they dreamed and planned.  It was such a joy to get to see how God brought them through that whole journey!

Mimi and I stayed up talking until 3 a.m.  But I did get nearly 4 hours of sleep, and the kids and Ted all slept quite well also.  Whew.  Day 1 ended much better than it began!