There and back again

We made it through our week-long, cross-country trip and lived to tell about it!

It was a hard trip -- not quite enough sleep for anyone, too much time in cars/airplanes, spent more money than we planned, etc. -- but it was well, well worth it.

Spending time with Bonnie and Jason, visiting with dear friends from college, and participating in the ordination Mass and first solemn Mass of our friend were priceless.

David said that all three boys grew up during the trip -- and I would agree with him, and add that I think all of us grew up a little :). Jack and Thomas really rose to the occasion of being "big boys", obeying to us very well, meeting lots of new people (and not being shy!), trying hard to be good even though they were tired. Peter did well, also -- he got his first top tooth in and perfected pulling up to stand. David and I had our patience tested. We were tired, and the kids were tired, but we worked very hard not to take out our tiredness or trip stresses on them. We had to die to self over and over again and remain cheerful even though lots of times we felt like throwing a temper tantrum ourselves :).

We learned some things -- we keep the boys on a fairly regular nap, meal, and bedtime schedule at home. That schedule was completely obliterated during our trip, and it really did wear on the kids. It made me realize how important some amount of structure/routine is for them.

The toys and extra snacks that we brought along worked very well to keep the peace. The gum worked perfectly to keep their ears from hurting on the airplane rides. Buying 2 smaller, lightweight carseats just to use on the airplane and in the rental car turned out to be a great idea. Google Maps works well about 80-90% of the time, but the times that we had bad directions were really frustrating, so next time we may invest in a GPS system when we take a long trip.

I'll share little anecdotes from our trip over the next week or two as we settle back in to life post-trip. I had been thinking about and planning for this trip for so long that now I feel like "Now what?".

Thank you for thoughts and prayers for safe travel! Thank you to Kim for taking care of our car for a week and picking us up from the airport. Thank you to Kim and Mom and Dad for stocking our refrigerator for us, folding Mt. Washmore, cleaning up the house, and generally making our arrival home SO welcoming!!