The Trip, A Milestone

Well, the boys and I survived the long drive to Kansas City for a week of water slides, family time (with my parents, my brother, sister-in-law and nephew), sightseeing and catching up with a friend from college. It was our first trip (other than the shorter one to St. Louis in November) without David. It was a long drive to do alone (probably would have been better to do sharing the driving, but it went just fine- I did have to promise my friend, Melanie, today that I would not try to spread the peanut butter on the celery for the boys while going 72 miles per hour on the way home, so, instead, they ate spoons full of crunchy PB, healthy, huh?). While in KC, we rode many waterslides at Great Wolf Lodge. I was much more successful that I was in February. I even called my physical therapist on Tuesday to tell him that my hard work had paid off, resulting in little pain from the long drive and the ability to be the adult in our group who rode the slides the most. I was quite a hit with my boys, perhaps my 4 1/2 year old nephew, too!

I decided to check out what was available at Cabelas and a huge furniture store next to GWL. The night before we left, while I was packing the van and the boys were inside, I heard a crash. Like any good mother (which I think I am...), I ran into the family room to ensure the safety of my offspring and THEN noticed the lamp on the floor next to the end table in a hundred pieces. I noticed Max looked guilty (and Davey seemed entirely oblivious to the fact that anything happened), so I questioned Max (the FBI has nothing on me when it comes to interrogation!). Max admitted to having climbed on the end table and knocking the lamp off. He apologized and helped me clean up a little.

We did some sightseeing (Crown Center, Union Station, Moon Marble) and enjoyed a couple days with the Coatses. They have a boy 8 months older than Davey and one almost 4 months older than Max. The boys hit it off from the beginning.

We have seen my brother and his crew 4 times now since last June, at the beach house, in August, at Thanksgiving and now spring break. My boys only have 4 cousins, 3 on David's side and 1 on mine. Chip and Sherri and I have had to make a concerted effort to get the boys all together, usually by meeting somewhere agreed upon by everyone, but it is worth it to see the cousins together. I never saw much of my cousins growing up, the few days some summers, if they were where my grandparents were when we were visiting them from England or Alaska. I want my boys to have lots of opportunities to spend time with their family (both related and chosen).

We are glad to be back at home, in our own beds. I felt motivated enough today to go to the YMCA after church and do most of my program, not the back and abdominal section, since that is verboten per my PT,but the cardio, arms and legs portions. Then I even mowed the front yard, raked the sticks and other remaining debris from the back, but didn't get to mow the back before the rain, thunder and lightning began. The prediction for tomorrow is for snow, so we will see... hope my daffodils and tulips survive. Back to work and school tomorrow! Hope I can feel motivated to get moving for that!

Happy spring and happy Eastertide!