Maybe it's because I was born in the 70s, but I always have Willie Nelson singing On the Road Again in a loop in my head whenever we head home from a road trip.
The kids are troopers. Yesterday was a long day. We had a fun leisurely morning at my dad's house but left around noon. As a result of bathroom breaks and a sit down dinner on the road, we didn't get home until shortly before 9 p.m. Long. Day. Despite being trapped in car seats for most of the day, they only had one melt down just before dinner. I can't say I blame them. It was the witching hour anyway, they were hungry, little bit was still running a fever, and they'd been in the car for about six hours by that point. We stopped at a Chili's in Huntsville and can I tell you that I was floored by their kids menu. Maybe it's because we never eat at chain restaurants, so we had no idea this was available, but these folks have the kid thing down. Every kind of cool kid food from chicken to cheese quesadillas with the most fabulous sides - fresh veggies and fruit of all kinds. The kids loved it. Plus dinner for five only cost us $40. We may have to be a little more open minded about chain restaurants now!
All in all, the road trip was good. I miss my brother and it was really cool to reintroduce the kids to Uncle Caleb at an age they'll remember. Plus we only get to see my dad a few times a year and they think he's super funny, and it is crazy easy to stay there because my stepmom moves heaven and earth to think of everything the kids might want. Way easier than a road trip to a hotel. Here are some of my favorite lines from the rest of the trip:
Little lady was chasing some birds in dad's front yard with my brother and she said in her little voice, "I likide birds." My brother replied, "You lika de birds. What are you? Italian?" I laughed for five minutes.
As we were heading out of Chili's last night, the baby said, "I had a fun day, got to go to new places." How cool is that?
My brother was feeding the kids grapes at lunchtime and he was trying to give them the best ones. He remarked, "Oh, let's not get that one, it's old." The baby retorted, "I like the old ones."
Bray was swimming with the eldest and they had water guns. He was, terribly, teaching him to shoot mommy with the water guns. After soaking me, Bray gave this hysterical evil laugh, "Ha, ha, ha, ha." (Imagine a staccato, maniacal, head-throwing, villain-esque laugh.) He told the eldest to give the laugh too. And boy did he. Spot on imitation. Freakin' hysterical to see that laugh come out of a two year old. When we got home last night, Bray asked him to give that laugh again and he did. Then he said, "give me your funny laugh." The little man gave the exact laugh he has when we tell a joke or tickle him. The other two did the same thing. We were in stitches.
As great as the trip was, I am so happy to be home. Home has a whole new meaning now that we have kids, and I get complete satisfaction when we're all back there together. As the little lady says with a smile, "Whole Family!"
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