And...we're back!

My children are rock stars. No, really.

They were sick last week. We got in the car anyway and made the would-be 10-hour trip to go see Papa Bear (my weekend warrior) up in Charlottesville at the JAG school. I made sure I was physically prepared for the trip, snacks ready and within easy reach, and we just went, without me thinking too much about the mental side of this. We got out of the door by 6:45 EST on Saturday morning and were in Charlottesville by 5:15 p.m. Yes, that's 10.5 hours. They rocked my socks off. I decided before we left that I would take my cues from Baby Bear, who would need to eat every so often. Goldilocks was content to stay in her seat and have me hand her snacks over the seat. Baby Bear went in three-hour stretches. Miracle! One time I had to leave them in the car while I ran into a gas station to pee, and another time we stopped at a rest stop on the NC/VA border so that Goldilocks could run around and stretch her legs. I had quite a few people praying about this trip, and I am thankful for every single person, every single prayer. They helped to make this the easiest trip I've taken.

While I was driving, I got to thinking. I've only ever driven from AL to TX and back by myself the one time, right after we moved here. It was only nine hours each direction (still not enough to finish listening to The DaVinci Code audiobook--that book is long). Pretty much since then, every long trip I've had MWW with me, and honestly, I let him do most of the driving. This time I just jumped in the car with two small children and decided to drive further than I've ever driven by myself. What was I thinking?!? As I said, I didn't think. I just did. And in this instance, I think that served me well.

Our three days with MWW were wonderful and weird. He still had his really weird military sleeping schedule (8 p.m.-4 a.m.), PT schedule (5 a.m.-7 a.m.), and class (8 a.m-4 p.m.), so we spent quite a bit of time entertaining ourselves. He's also gotten used to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep (I'm jealous) and was a little cranky about crying children (suck it up). But he loved having us there. He just beamed at the kids, smiling an hugging and laughing. Man, we miss him. Goldilocks was confused by all the people in digital camouflage, and walked around saying, "Daddy? Daddy?" to every single one of them once MWW left for class and the last of the people in the hotel dining room were scarfing down their breakfasts so they could be to class on time.

There were other families there with their small children, and it made me wish that at this season of life we could have traveled up there with him to stay for the duration. But, alas, someone has to win the regular bread that pays for the house.

Wednesday morning, we dragged our feet, but eventually got into the car and headed home. I knew that this direction the trip wasn't going to be so easy--both physically and emotionally. The kids were cranky and crying. Goldilocks didn't want to sing to her CD or watch a DVD on the player we had borrowed from friends. Baby Bear was feeling much better, which meant that he would want to eat every two hours or so. What I didn't plan for was sitting still, moving only about 2 miles, for an hour of construction traffic just miles from the NC/SC border (and when the car stopped, two sleeping kids woke up and started crying/screaming...yay). What I did plan for was driving back through Atlanta, on a weekday, during rush hour traffic. What I didn't originally plan for, but was pumped about after the trip up there, was the HOV lanes through Atlanta, which helped keep the trip from being completely unbearable. This time, we also stopped at a Chick-Fil-A in Anderson, SC, so that Goldilocks could get out and stretch her legs and play in the play place. She was so hyper, it was entertaining. And it added another hour onto our trip. All in all, it took us 12.5 hours to get home. We left Charlottesville at approximately 7:30 a.m. EST, and rolled into our driveway at 7 p.m. CST.

One sweet thing was that a good friend of mine was here waiting for us, and she got the kids out of the car while I came inside and cleaned up cat poo and vomit (which are both inevitable if we leave the cats for any length of time), and she brought dinner, so she fed Goldilocks while I took a relaxing shower. Then, she helped me unload the car, start a load of travel laundry, do the travel dishes and bathe the little girl. And once Goldilocks was in bed, we even got some girl chat time that I've sorely missed.

We are blessed.