Back from visiting the in-laws

Well we made it back from the in-laws' cabin in N. MN. It took us about 4 hours to get up there Friday afternoon, but the kids did remarkably well in the car. I bought M High School Musical on DVD to watch and it must have been a good show because we didn't hear much from her. She did, however, break into a seated dance during several of the songs.

The first night is always a nightmare trying to get the kids to bed. M was up until 9:30, (which was late enough) but K decided he was hanging with the adults until 11:30. Argh. Just reminds me of how much I hate traveling with the kids (at least the first night away).

Yesterday the kids spent much of the day outside and got sufficiently worn out. K took about a 45 minute nap in the car when Craig and I made a run to the local town to get those all-important worms for fishing. We stopped at a few garage sales along the way and found K some bib shorts, 2 kids Disney t-shirts, a cute winter dress for M and a toy back-hoe for the sandbox. Spent $3.50. M stayed and played with the neighbor's son's girlfriend's son. (get that?) He was 6 and only about 2 inches taller than M. I got a glimpse to the future as she was off and playing, in their cabin, out, who knows where. I remember that from my youth, but I didn't think it would start with my not-quite-4-year-old quite yet. Anyway, we had a campfire last night and ate s'mores and both kids were actually sleeping by 9. So an improvement.

My BIL was up there with his son also. M is totally enamored with her 14 year old cousin and he really is great and patient with her. He's a great kid. His parents got divorced going on 3 years ago now, but my BIL is still having problems. Although, according to him this weekend, he's great. He's on anti-depressants which is a good thing, but he's also drinking and smoking cigarettes and who knows what else. My in-laws had to come back from FL (where they spend the winter) twice this year because they thought he was going to do something to himself. It's not pretty, but hopefully he stays on medication this time. And cuts out all the other "medication".

We also had to deal with lots of swearing this weekend. I don't know what the deal is with my MIL and BIL, but they swear like a couple of sailors. I don't feel comfortable saying anything so I usually look pointedly at my hubby to say something. He said a few words to his brother, but didn't say anything to his Mom (which is probably a wise choice??). Anyway, we figure that if M asks us what "shit" means, we'll tell her to ask Grammy.

On the way home today, K took a nice 2 hour nap and M watched her DVDs. Craig discovered the magic of popcorn when we stopped to get some E-85. Turns out if you give your kids popcorn, they ride most of the way home very happily. We got very close to home and saw a weird sight in the highway ahead of us. (Craig and I both thought it looked like drywall spilled across the road.) Well, a bit too late we realized that the highway had exploded in front of us, and we thought we'd wrecked the van (so far it seems fine). It was between 95 to 99 degrees throughout the trip. Anyway, I called 911 on my cell for the first time to tell the highway patrol about the road...it was buckled up over all 3 lanes in the southbound lane. So they said they would send someone out. Craig said if anyone was on a motorcycle and hit that, they'd be in tough shape. As it was, the small Saturn that was behind us went airborne for a bit. Both of our kids were pretty freaked out, as were their parents, but thankfully, we're fine.

ANYWHO! I have lots of photos I'd like to share, but I tried last time to post some and was unsuccessful. I'm sure it's something wrong with the poster, but I'll work on it. (K's face is almost healed after his road rash incident.)

Tomorrow we're going to my Aunt's house since her college roommate is in town from New York for my cousin's graduation from high school. I think it's so great that my Aunt is still in touch with one of her college roommates. She's 40 something, so it's been a few years. I hope I am still in touch with my friend Rachel from college when we're pushing 70, if we make it that far. (Rachel, if you're reading...I love you man!)

In honor of Memorial Day (even though he'll hopefully never read this!) I'd like to thank my Daddy for his service to our country. He was in the military for 20 years, and it was hard for us all, but I'm proud that I have such a great Mom and Dad. Both of my parents' fathers were in the military as well. My mom's dad was a bomber pilot, and K is named after him. My dad's father was killed in WWII (first day of the battle of the bulge...after insisting on rifle training even though he was a comparably safe chef. My Dad was 2.), and his stepfather (or, his Dad) also enlisted, but I'm drawing a blank on what he did. Anyway, my grandmother remarried and had 6 more kids with him.

God bless the veterans, and the currently enlisted.