Wednesday, May 13, 2009

On The Road

Thursday May 7th, 2009 we packed up the van and took our first long roadtrip with the kids. Not being in a big hurry, we fed everyone and left at a leisurely time of about 9:30 Thursday morning. Not an hour into the drive and Joe had the DVD player out for Brendan (my strategy would have been to save it till we ran out of other options but I was the driver and NOT the entertainer...) And after 8 1/2 hours on the road including 3 stops to feed Aubrey and let Brendan go potty, a stop for lunch, a stop for gas, and an abrupt stop on the side of the highway in response to the panicked "mommy, I have to go potty now!" we arrived safe and sound in Grass Valley, California. My mom and stepdad were ecstatic to have us there.

Friday was uneventful besides my much needed haircut and my boys' secretive search for the perfect Mother's Day card. Saturday began with Brendan's gardening apprenticeship as he assisted Nonna in planting her beautiful potted flowers. Then we were off to watch Shawna (my 11-year-old niece)'s softball team nearly win their Saturday game (they lost by only ONE point!) And after much needed naps that afternoon, we headed to the family ranch for my grandparents' big 50th anniversary party.

The weather made for the most beautiful backdrop to a sea of people wearing all white. The food was wonderful and we all had a great time. Such a blessing to be able to see my entire family at once. My brother and sister-in-law with their baby, my sister and brother-in-law (to be) with their kids... my aunts and uncles and cousins... it was truly an amazing night.

We rounded out the weekend back at the ranch on Sunday for a Mother's Day picnic. What a beautiful and perfect way to honor the moms in our family. Aubrey was worn out from being passed around and eventually fell asleep on a blanket in the shade, but Brendan was FULL of energy and used every last bit of it running around! Then Monday, much to our dismay, we made the 8 1/2 hour ride back home. It was a wonderful visit and some much needed family time but it leaves me missing them all so much already... Sometimes it's just so hard being so far away.








2 comments:

Dana said...

annie- it looks you have a lovely family! how fun that everyone dressed in white. you look beautiful!! are you from California originally?

Kelly Olson said...

You and Joe are so brave to drive to CA. We do it every year for Thanksgiving and dread it.
Your kids are so adorable!