It's Good to Be Home

We are now safely in Ohio...

Traveling 6 hours with 3 children without another adult is quite an adventure! I'm becoming a pro. I must say I couldn't have asked for better kids today. Lily was a great help without too many complaints. We changed the seating arrangements and everyone seemed happy! The trees have just started to change, the sky was so blue, it was a beautiful drive! Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of a day such as this!

Best quote of the day came from Dax. "Mom, this drive sure is long". He asked me repeatedly why Nana lives so far away from us. He told me he doesn't like long drives, just short ones and it should only be a short one to Nana's. Amen!

Most amusing exchange of the day...

Ok, can't do one, but can do one for each child. Of course they all involve my brother, the infamous, Uncle Ryan. The kids haven't seen him for a few months and the boys seemed very resistant at first. Dax told me Uncle Ryan was mean and he didn't want to have dinner with him. Lily and he just picked up their love/hate relationship from where they left off. Uncle Ryan is a teddy bear. A teddy bear who masquerades as a big annoying, teaser. The kids, Mom, Ryan and I went to a local dive tonight. You know, the kind of place only the locals know about with all the ambiance of a truck stop but amazing food and good company. Ok, I regress, my stories...

Finn ~ For no reason at all he starts hurling pickles at Ryan's head and laughing hysterically. If he was older I probably would have been really ticked (or if we were in a nice establishment) Grand, he's already decided it's fun to throw food at your uncle. Should I be worried?

Dax ~ Uncle Ryan kept trying to steal Dax's goldfish crackers. He tried negotiating, to no avail. He offered french fries, onion rings, monkeys, cows, random strange items. Dax was cracking a slight smile but repeatedly said "I'm not sharing with you!" Ryan asked if he could just have the green one...just the green one. Dax popped it in his mouth and said "gggrrr I ate it" yeah, totally a lot funnier to have seen it in person. If you know Dax then you can at least imagine that gravely gruff voice saying it which makes it slightly more funny. If you don't know Dax move on, I'm getting bored with myself!

Lily ~ I walked out of the diner and see my daughter standing on the back of my van trying to retrieve her flip flop from the roof, yelling how cold she is and my brother standing there laughing with his arms in her pink, heart covered sweatshirt.

Can I just say, I love my brother. He's a great guy. I have friends who are younger than he is but seem a good 10 - 20 years older. The boy manages a bank, he's no slouch. When he turns in to Uncle Ryan, he seems to remind me a lot of this annoying little brother I once had who could drive me to the edge of sanity and shove me right over. At least now I can refrain from yelling "mooooommmm!! " Although Lily seems to have picked up right where I left off!

It's good to be home!