In my previous post I stated that my husband, my two girls and I were driving to Georgia to visit my parents. They "retired" here about 5 years ago. (I say retired but as many people do now a days, they both got new jobs and are still working full time) When they decided to move, we decided to buy my childhood home. I just couldn't see it go to someone else... I had to have it. It is home! Well, I have come to find out that home is not necessarily an address on a house, it is a feeling you get when you are welcomed into a place with such warmth and love that there is no other word for it than "home."
I have three brothers that also moved to various parts of Georgia over the last 8 or so years. They are all living within a few hours of my parents and are able to see them regularly. I am the only one of my family that stayed in Michigan to brave another winter! This saddens me quite often knowing that I am missing out on family dinners, baseball games for my nephews and just spending time as a family. We travel here as often as we can, but busy lives do not accommodate 12 hour trips to the south more then one or two times a year.
When we get out of the car at my parents house a calm comes over me. This is not the house I grew up in, I have very little memories of being in this house, (we have only visited maybe 5 times or so since they have moved into this house), I have no stories to tell my kids of when I was little (I have those stories back in Michigan), however, as soon as the door opens and I see my parents I know I am home. Something about seeing their faces, knowing that we are together again after months of being apart just makes everything feel right.
We try to get my brothers and their families together at least once during our trip down here. This is so hard because everyone has such busy lives. I do appreciate it when we are all together, talking, laughing and reminiscing of days gone by. I love seeing my kids play with my nephews, I love seeing my husband get to know my brothers. It all seems right when we are together.
I know there is not going to be a time when we are all going to be together again for a long period of time and I think that makes every moment I get to spend with my family so special. No matter where may family is.. that is home (away from home)
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Thursday, August 5, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
2 kids, one husband and 15 hours in a car
So, in order to allow my kids to have vacations with each set of grandparents, we allowed our girls to go to Ludington, Mi with my husbands parents a few days before setting out to see my parents in Georgia. If you are unaware of geography, this adventure is driving in the wrong direction for when we pick them up and set off to the Peach State.
We spent a day and a half together in Ludington before packing the car, the kids and the husband and heading off down a new path toward Georgia. We decided to drive a different route, avoiding I-75 and opting for 2 lane highways the entire way. (The time it would take to get there according to Google Maps was 4 minutes difference). So why not? We get to see different parts of the country, not the same 6 hour trek through Ohio (especially now that the Jesus statue has burned, we had little to look forward to), Kentucky and Tennessee as well. We were excited to see hours and hours of corn, lettuce and various other crops, but we also got to see wonderful new cities, Nashville for example, was seen for a lot longer than we were supposed to thanks to the rush hour traffic we were stuck in for what seemed like forever!
I would like to thank the inventor of the in car DVD player which was a saving grace with my 4 year old and 1 year old. The only problem, one wants to watch Barney and Dora, the other Addams Family, Muppet Babies and Thumbelina. We dealt with a few minutes of arguing over whose turn it was to watch what show and settled on a compromise of sharing, one girl first then the next.
My daughters did unbelievably well for a 15 hour trip across country. We stopped a few times to eat, go potty and stretch our legs, but overall it was a straight haul. We came prepared with suckers, snacks and new toys to bribe our children with, all unneeded. They slept, watched their shows and talked to us (well, if dora, dora dora, dadadada and the always frequent girl scream counts as talking, then Zoe was able to participate in the conversation as well.)
My wonderful husband drove 99% of the way pulling a motorcycle trailer and listening to us girls in the back while he kept us safe from the other drivers trying to avoid said Mini van pulling a trailer. This allowed me the opportunity to finish one book and read another on the way. Reading to me makes the time fly, and as long as the kids were busy and happy, mom could be too.
Speaking of people trying to avoid our mini-van, why is it cars think we are going to be driving slowly just because we have a mini-van? I need to research this. We have the same ability to speed as the next car and find it highly offensive that people feel it necessary to cut us off just to get in front of us... oh well, for another time.
It was such a great feeling to pull into the driveway at my parents house. The girls were so wound up and ready to play that we didn't go to bed until after 1am, but it was well worth it. Ava was so excited to see her grandparents, she had to tell them every story she could think of in the first 10 minutes, as well as find all her toys, visit her room and show off her latest dance moves. Zoe on the other hand stuck to me like glue, not wanting to look at her grandparents whom she hasn't seen in 4 months.. it took awhile but she is now enjoying them as much as if they lived next door.
Off to have fun with the family.
We spent a day and a half together in Ludington before packing the car, the kids and the husband and heading off down a new path toward Georgia. We decided to drive a different route, avoiding I-75 and opting for 2 lane highways the entire way. (The time it would take to get there according to Google Maps was 4 minutes difference). So why not? We get to see different parts of the country, not the same 6 hour trek through Ohio (especially now that the Jesus statue has burned, we had little to look forward to), Kentucky and Tennessee as well. We were excited to see hours and hours of corn, lettuce and various other crops, but we also got to see wonderful new cities, Nashville for example, was seen for a lot longer than we were supposed to thanks to the rush hour traffic we were stuck in for what seemed like forever!
I would like to thank the inventor of the in car DVD player which was a saving grace with my 4 year old and 1 year old. The only problem, one wants to watch Barney and Dora, the other Addams Family, Muppet Babies and Thumbelina. We dealt with a few minutes of arguing over whose turn it was to watch what show and settled on a compromise of sharing, one girl first then the next.
My daughters did unbelievably well for a 15 hour trip across country. We stopped a few times to eat, go potty and stretch our legs, but overall it was a straight haul. We came prepared with suckers, snacks and new toys to bribe our children with, all unneeded. They slept, watched their shows and talked to us (well, if dora, dora dora, dadadada and the always frequent girl scream counts as talking, then Zoe was able to participate in the conversation as well.)
My wonderful husband drove 99% of the way pulling a motorcycle trailer and listening to us girls in the back while he kept us safe from the other drivers trying to avoid said Mini van pulling a trailer. This allowed me the opportunity to finish one book and read another on the way. Reading to me makes the time fly, and as long as the kids were busy and happy, mom could be too.
Speaking of people trying to avoid our mini-van, why is it cars think we are going to be driving slowly just because we have a mini-van? I need to research this. We have the same ability to speed as the next car and find it highly offensive that people feel it necessary to cut us off just to get in front of us... oh well, for another time.
It was such a great feeling to pull into the driveway at my parents house. The girls were so wound up and ready to play that we didn't go to bed until after 1am, but it was well worth it. Ava was so excited to see her grandparents, she had to tell them every story she could think of in the first 10 minutes, as well as find all her toys, visit her room and show off her latest dance moves. Zoe on the other hand stuck to me like glue, not wanting to look at her grandparents whom she hasn't seen in 4 months.. it took awhile but she is now enjoying them as much as if they lived next door.
Off to have fun with the family.
Monday, July 26, 2010
My sleepy little town
This past week my sleepy little town was brought crashing into reality. It was a normal evening, my family and I were outside enjoying the warm summer night when my littlest daughter decided to go for a walk. She lets me know this like any other one year old would, by taking off down the side walk and periodically looking back to see if I am giving chase. I finally catch up to her, take her hand and begin our lazy stroll down the block.
Just as I turned the corner I hear my husband call my name. Now, my husband is normally a very level-headed, even toned man, but something about the way he yelled my name made me stop in my tracks, pick up my daughter and start heading back towards my house.
As I am walking I notice a man standing in our front yard with my husband. This man is not someone I know from a distance but I see he must live close for he is standing in just his socks on our lawn. As I approach I am quickly searching my acquaintance filing cabinet in my brain to see if I should know this person, but alas I come up empty.
I make it to the lawn and the look on my husbands face reads louder than any rock concert. The man begins to tell us that the reason there are helicopters flying around our neighborhood was that there is a gunman on the run and that we should not be walking around the block right now. (Now, I know what you're thinking, "didn't I find it strange that there were three helicopters circling my neighborhood?" well, I probably would have, but not 10 minutes before this conversation, my husband and I discussed the possible reasons for these helicopters, one, the storm damage that occurred from the massive storms we had been having or two, the boat races that were taking place at that moment on the Detroit River, either choice did not come close to the awful story being played out in front of me)
Mike, my husband, and I quickly but calmly take our children inside and lock the doors. My 4 year old daughter Ava wants to know why she can't play baseball anymore with her Daddy. What to say? We tell her there is a bad guy that the police need to find and we need to stay out of their way so they can do their jobs. This seems to pacify her, so we move on.
Thankfully part of the story we were told, that the man on the run had killed his wife and child, ended up being false, but there was a man with a gun, he did fire a shot in a house, but unfortunately the shot ended his own life. This information was not readily available to anyone for another day. I searched online, watched the news and there was hardly mention of it. This is BIG news in my little town. Big News. Things like this don't happen here in my sleepy little town.. well, they didn't used to anyways...
Just as I turned the corner I hear my husband call my name. Now, my husband is normally a very level-headed, even toned man, but something about the way he yelled my name made me stop in my tracks, pick up my daughter and start heading back towards my house.
As I am walking I notice a man standing in our front yard with my husband. This man is not someone I know from a distance but I see he must live close for he is standing in just his socks on our lawn. As I approach I am quickly searching my acquaintance filing cabinet in my brain to see if I should know this person, but alas I come up empty.
I make it to the lawn and the look on my husbands face reads louder than any rock concert. The man begins to tell us that the reason there are helicopters flying around our neighborhood was that there is a gunman on the run and that we should not be walking around the block right now. (Now, I know what you're thinking, "didn't I find it strange that there were three helicopters circling my neighborhood?" well, I probably would have, but not 10 minutes before this conversation, my husband and I discussed the possible reasons for these helicopters, one, the storm damage that occurred from the massive storms we had been having or two, the boat races that were taking place at that moment on the Detroit River, either choice did not come close to the awful story being played out in front of me)
Mike, my husband, and I quickly but calmly take our children inside and lock the doors. My 4 year old daughter Ava wants to know why she can't play baseball anymore with her Daddy. What to say? We tell her there is a bad guy that the police need to find and we need to stay out of their way so they can do their jobs. This seems to pacify her, so we move on.
Thankfully part of the story we were told, that the man on the run had killed his wife and child, ended up being false, but there was a man with a gun, he did fire a shot in a house, but unfortunately the shot ended his own life. This information was not readily available to anyone for another day. I searched online, watched the news and there was hardly mention of it. This is BIG news in my little town. Big News. Things like this don't happen here in my sleepy little town.. well, they didn't used to anyways...
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