Foto Friday vol. 22 - A quick trip north

Last week, the Flock drove north and stayed with Nana and Papa for a few days. We actually had to leave our house while some mold/mildew repair work was done on the home we are renting. (Thankfully, the work was successful and the mold issue not severe enough to warrant us moving out... a prospect that's been hanging over our heads for the past month. Though our lease isn't up until November, we just renewed for another year. It's nice to know we're "settled" here for a full school year, but it's still weird for me to not know for sure where we'll be living in 13 months. I am a planner and like being settled!)

We had a 450 mile journey and left Sunday evening. This is the perfect time to travel with two kids and a dog... the fewest stops and no traffic. It was nice for John and me because we actually had some uninterrupted time for conversation... something that rarely occurs amongst the chaos at home! We arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning and that whole day was sort of a lost cause for both kids and their parents! We were tired! Gracie didn't feel well at all on Monday and spent most of the day asleep in her diaper. The highlights of the day - a yummy breakfast, a yummy dinner and just hanging out with Nana and Papa. (Somehow, we managed to bust out the camera only once while at their house!)

On Tuesday, we had a couple of appointments, but to make it fun for the kids, we sandwiched the appointments with two different park outings. The first was to a park that was fully accessible for Gracie. She really loved it and it was early enough in the day that it wasn't too hot to swing. Ironically, we'd never been to that park even though it is just a handful of miles from our old house. After the appointments, we took them to one of the sprinkler parks... and they LOVED it just as much as they used to! Once Gracie dried off and heated back up, though, she was miserable. So, back to the air conditioned house we went!




On Wednesday, we visited with long-time friends. It was so nice... like a mini-reunion at my college friend Becky's house. Amy, her twin sister and also my college friend, was there with her three girls and their older sister, Jenny, and her three kids were there, too, as were the girls' parents who have been such amazing friends and supporters to us over the years. (Amongst so many generous, kind-hearted things over the years, their dad, David, was a constant presence in the PICU five years ago. He regularly brought boxes of baked goods to keep the PICU nurses, doctors and therapists happy during Gracie's three month stay!)

Upon our arrival, Gracie quickly stripped off her shirt and then, later, took a nap! This made Auntie Barecca (her name is Rebecca... she goes by Becky... and I have always lovingly called her Barecca) so happy because she knew Gracie was truly comfy at her house... a miracle when just a year and a half ago, she would have panicked by simply being in her house. Here are a few highlights of the day... (Unfortunately, no postable pics of Miss Gracie and John managed to steer clear of the cameral the whole day!)


Sadly, our girls night planned for that evening got scrapped when I ended up with a sore throat and fever. Yep... sick, again... for the umpteenth time this year. So, we left Thursday morning for a very long journey home. Thankfully, the kids and John managed to avoid it. I am on strong antibiotics for the sinus infection that's now developed. Hopefully, these drugs will also kick the lingering cough I've had for weeks on end.

While we enjoyed our trip, we will never travel that far for that short of a visit again! And, one thing we learned while being in the heat up north - - we have become very accustomed (er... spoiled) to the cooler beach weather and cannot imagine living in that 100+ degree heat again, even though that was home for seven years. It feels like home here, rather than there. And Gracie, especially, was so happy to get home to the milder days where she can be outside any time of the day and better regulate her temperature. We miss family and friends terribly, but guys, your summer weather stinks! :-)