foreward: this is REALLY long - if you don't want to read just enjoy the slide show. ryan took photos with his 35mm as well and will be posted once developed. we borrowed mom's car for our trip to make it there and back safely. we packed enough for 3 days and 2 nights. and have i mentioned warren is allergic to bee stings?
day 1:
we prepared to take off sat. at 730, yet with me forgetting jewelry and having to drop off plastic peas warren found under the couch to our 'parent's as teachers' educator, we can honestly say we left at 8. ryan informed me i was to start the drive and i'm proud to say i drove the entire time until we reached kahoka. overall it wasn't too bad. the kids didn't sleep as we had hoped and i drove through rain 20 minutes. we arrived at aunt gloria's at noon, and we were thrilled to get out of that car! it was over 90 degrees with no breeze and it was a blessing to be eating indoors. gloria's home was immaculate and we were able to visit with her husband, charley, grandma and grandpa, aunt gina and kim, aunt julie, heidi, kendi, alana and aubrey. gloria put on a spread with fantastic summer fare that was also healthy! i loved the cheese they just brought back from wisconsin and gloria's homemade black bean salsa! but the best part was aunt gina's taco salad - my favorite dish from childhood. we all had a great visit and although i wasn't able to sit and linger i'm pleased that warren and ellie didn't break anything! the kids played in the mud (it had rained the night before) and i took in gloria's beautiful landscaping, garden, greenhouse and lovely back patio. surprisingly we stayed for 5 hours and would have stuck around if we hadn't worn out grandma and grandpa.
we headed to the weber's home and warren couldn't wait to get on their trampoline! that only lasted a few minutes since there was so much to get into, but again, the kids seemed to behave! i don't know what happened! perhaps it was that their dad was along for this trip? larry prepared the grill and we had the thickest pork chops i've ever seen. ryan helped grill so larry could rest and mary whipped up homemade mac & cheese and cucumber salad in a matter of minutes. that woman's cooking talent is newsworthy, i swear! i can't forget to mention her homemade cherry and chocolate pies we had for dessert :) we were quite lazy just resting on the screened-in porch and watching the kids play.
warren came up to us saying his foot really hurt and i saw a tiny red dot on the side. he never said he saw a bee, so we assumed it was a thorn or something... boy were we wrong (i did give him benadryl just in case).
ellie started to pick up her bag of diapers and i asked her to put them back. she ended up bringing them to me and laid on the floor for me to change her. everyone thought it was the cutest thing - until the diaper was opened and we saw what unripe apples from gloria's back yard can do to your digestive system :)
once larry saw how ready she was to have a dry bottom, he gave us the most beautiful potty chair ever! he made it for his new grandbaby coming this fall, but his daughter was wanting something in a lighter color. it has a built-in magazine rack and toilet paper holder. ellie just loves it and sat in it all weekend. (if anyone wants one... let me know. $40 for a lifetime of poopy memories.)
we went to bed early and snuggled up in their freezing air-conditioned house. it was awesome!
*unforgettable: before we went to the weber's we stopped at a convenience store to get some beer. while waiting in the car i saw a Mennonite exit the store with 2 huge bottles of mountain dew; dressed all in black in the unbearable heat. he walked to a conversion van and the back door slid open. inside were at least 20 more! i'm not exaggerating. more people dressed in black left the store for the van all carrying mountain dew :) it was like a bearded clown car on caffeine. ha!
day 2:
it stormed during the night and i left the windows down in the car... my son woke up with a foot the size of a watermelon. he wasn't complaining too much of pain, but just looking at his cankle made me sad. we gave him more benadryl hoping what the doctors' have told us in the past 3 years would actually work this time. we took off around 8 planning on being at jessie's around lunch time. the drive was pleasant through memphis and queen city (rhonda vincent's hometown) and once in kirksville the a/c on the car started making an odd noise. we turned it off until we could no longer stand the heat and made it to jessie's by 1130. ryan grilled brats and hot dogs for lunch and we oohed and aahed over their new kitchen. they recently installed new cabinets, counter top, sink, dishwasher and refrigerator. it looks amazing! we made it to carrie's before 2 and chaos ensued :) the kids played outside in the unbearable heat. warren hit baseballs for what seemed hours and wouldn't stay off of his foot. we tried putting a bag of frozen blueberries on it and covering it with a sock, until we saw a bright purple foot dripping juice on the floor. we were able to catch everyone up on the goings on in kahoka and when the shade hit, we prepared for the birthday party! jessie had to work and jason was worn out since jack had had a fever for a few days. but mom convinced him to come out since she needed her 'grandkids on the couch' picture (you can see how cooperative my son can be). barry grilled 2 different fish courses and we had potato salad, hummus, bruschetta, and salsa with the majority of ingredients coming from carrie's garden. after dinner we sang happy birthday and carrie served homemade lemon cupcakes for dessert. georgia's friend, luke brought her a swimming pool and everyone took turns trying to blow it up. the kids swam until i was eventually doused with a water gun - but not before grandma jumped in! (this is when my memory card filled up) barry went home taking mom & dad with them, scott and luke left and thankfully kids were ready for bed. this time, no a/c - but we slept in the basement where it wasn't too miserable.
*unforgettable: no one had to go to the emergency room! yeah!
day 3.
warren's foot was blistered, purple and oozing. we covered it up with bandaids hoping he wouldn't offend his dr. at his eye exam. carrie offered to watch ellie for us and we loaded up our luggage in the car and headed to town. we stopped to see barry & brittany's new home and played with grace until it was time to leave. we went to dr. heather's optometry office (the weber's daughter) and had a great time. warren was a doll and his eyesight is perfect and his eyes healthy. we visited with heather longer than we probably should have, then left for the mall (ryan had to have a new hat). it was already reaching 95 degrees and nearing lunchtime, so we called carrie to see if she would let us stay over one more night. we spent time at the mall then went grocery shopping as not to eat all of carrie's food. we had brought with us tons of japanese eggplant from our friends tim & terri to share and carrie planned on an evening of italian. so we followed suit (but by this time we needed some meat!) and had the makings for salad, bread, baked italian sausage pasta and a watermelon for the kids. before we reached the grocery store the a/c made another noise. this time we just turned it off and had to settle for 98 degree wind in our faces. we had lunch at carrie's upon our return and she was able to get georgia down for a nap and rested herself. we unloaded the car and i washed all of our clothes. ryan and i watched the kids and helped clean up what we could from the night before. brittany & grace came over and we took the kids for a swim. jessie was able to bring her kids out a bit later. ryan started working on dinner and dr. heather also stopped by enjoy the feast. kelly came home from work (probably not too pleased to see a house full of family again!) and we ate, laughed and played with the kids until we wore them out for bath time! barry came after his shift at work and they ended up staying over as well. i took the kids to bed and the 4 of us ended up sleeping in a full size bed. was pretty funny - and uncomfortable :)
*unforgettable: not only was no one sent to the emergency room 2 days in a row, there was only one major upset when ellie bit georgia. other than than all of the kids got along (and the adults too!)!
day 4:
in the middle of the night it stormed and i was elated that we had taken all of our luggage out of the car (mom's trunk leaks since the convertible top is busted). the weather cooled drastically and as we loaded our car in the light rain, we were extremely thankful to be leaving tues. instead of mon. carrie prepared homemade waffles with fresh blackberries mom & dad had picked and after breakfast we were southbound. we left carrie's at 9 and 5 miles from her home it began to pour, thunder loudly and lightening flashed everywhere around us. we couldn't drive faster than 30 mph for we couldn't see anything. by the time we got on 63S towards jefferson city, it was dangerous and truly scary. ellie went to sleep immediately and warren thought the storm was 'so cool'. before we reached ashland we had to pull over on the side of the road (like everyone else) praying the storm would cease and the idiots driving 70mph passing us wouldn't slam into us. soon as we stopped the battery light came on the dashboard. the first chance we got, ryan was able to get us to shelter at a convenience store in ashland. i called dad to see if this was something normal or of concern. they just had a new battery installed less than 2 months ago so it couldn't be that. i suggested taking the car to a shop but ryan was determined to get it home. he knew it was the alternator and if we turned everything off, we should make it. no radio. no dvd player. no a/c. and not a damn thing to read. so the kids and i slept off and on. through jefferson city, we made it. then st. james and in steelville we stopped for snacks and drinks. i even called dad to let him know where we were and all was well. we knew we would be home at 1230, so eating lunch at a restaurant wasn't an option. about 15 miles from potosi all of the lights came on the dashboard. then the gauges went straight to zero. ryan started using language i've only heard in movies :) road construction signs appeared and as soon as we were stopped in traffic, the car died. literally. died. ironically a truck in front of us did the same thing! ryan helped them push it up the hill hoping they would help us - but no, they didn't come back. i started crying when i realized the windows wouldn't work and they were up, there were no curbs on this road and NO CELL PHONE SERVICE! warren told me to stop being sad :) and ellie just sat back drinking her juice. ryan pushed the car and i steered it the best i could out of the way - but we were basically taking up the entire lane. i opened the doors to give the kids some breeze and ryan walked up and down the highway hoping to get some form of cell phone service. nothing. we got out the emergency road side kit - thank the Lord ryan remembered to pack it - and there was nothing really of use except jumper cables. i couldn't fathom posting up a sign saying "emergency! please help!"... we saw a truck pulling out of a driveway behind us and when it got close, ryan flagged it down and asked the driver to jump our car. of course i was leery. all you hear about or read in the news is horror stories of monsters harming strangers. miraculously this was not the case. we charged the car for about 5 min. and it started! they also noticed the drive belt had busted. we prayed it would get us at least to town then we could take a good look at it and get professional help. the first thing i did was put the windows down just in case. we made it less than a mile down the road. this time we were able to pull into someone's driveway and our good samaritans pulled in behind us. they pushed the car out of the way and offered us a lift to town. this husband and wife probably felt really sorry for us seeing the 2 kids in the car seats, but still i couldn't stop crying. i find it difficult to believe at times there are such generous and thoughtless people in our society today. we transferred the electronics and costly items to one bag. we grabbed ellie's car seat for they had one for their grandson already in their truck warren could use. ryan had to sit on my lap and warren jabbered the entire time to town. we had them drop us off at the super 8 motel and ryan explained to the front desk clerk about our situation. they welcomed us to their lobby without hesitation. we unloaded our bag and my purse along with the car seat and i thanked the couple nonstop. they even offered us money! can you imagine? once we settled into the motel lobby i called dad. then we called ryan's grandpa in bismarck. he was bringing a new battery and left immediately. we waited for an hour for him to arrive and guess what... we forgot diapers! warren went with ryan and ellie and i waited for 3 AND A HALF HOURS. she whined, cried, wanted nursed and pooped her pants 3 times. i felt miserable for her. the staff turned the tv on cartoons, opened up their conference room for me to nurse, but ellie just wouldn't nap. i would take her outside to walk around, get her some juice and they even fed her a danish. but it was horrible. it even stormed while we were there. i did realize ryan was actually working. it wasn't as if he was out with the guys tying one on... but i was very unhappy. when they came back with the car at 430 i grabbed the diapers and wipes and couldn't even look at him. :)
they were able to change the battery and get the car to autozone. they had to replace a $20 driving belt but it required ryan to remove the fender, jack the car up and borrow tools from the autozone staff as well. during his work something snapped and hit his hand. he didn't think it was broken because he could move everything, but it pretty much looked like warren's poor foot.
the seats were soaking wet, but we made it home by 530. the kids and i slept the entire time.
our neighbors and friends in town were worried and glad to finally hear from us. we had a trash sack full of clothes for ellie that were drenched so we immediately did laundry, ate dinner, bathed and passed out. we were so thankful to be home and safe. no matter how upset we were, we know all that matters is we're okay.
*unforgettable: no comment :)
today we woke somewhat perky, took the kids to school and life seems kind of normal. ran errands and hope to have a pleasant afternoon. ryan will be traveling to pevely to the I-55 raceway for nascar night, so let us hope i have two happy kids on my hands tonight.
thank you all again for having us over the weekend. we had a fantastic time and can't wait to see you again!
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