Road Trip Report

There was a good, bad, and an ugly side to my road trip with my three little angels. Here's the summary:

Good:

• I ran 6.25 miles with my sister Pamela and 4 of her friends one early morning. She is amazing and is loving her new found hobby. I ran 6.2 miles with my brother David one afternoon. We debated what the wear to mitigate weather (read WIND) conditions and ended up getting sunburned! In Canada. In April. Crazy.
• I sewed and sewed and sewed some of the cutest aprons you have ever seen. I got a couple of patterns and some great fabric after my cute friend Mandy me me a darling apron for Christmas and I paid her gift forward by making one for my mom, 3 (of 4) sisters, and grandma. I've got two in the queue--1 for Stephy and 1 for my brother. (I think I'll leave the ruffle off of his.)
• Todd went to the golfing range with a patient, fun uncle, played chess with my dad, shot the BB gun at gophers, and was Alec's personal three-wheeler chauffer. He only got bored a little and didn't complain...as long as a daily trip to town for slurpies was on our agenda.
• Kenna got her fill of making something out of nothing but craft scraps and ingenuity. She loved it and so did the younger cousins she pulled along. Kenna also enjoyed a tromp through the soggy field with my sister and 2 cousins. They stayed out for a long time just playing.
• Alec played outside most of the time. He enjoyed the dogs, the mud, the three-wheeler, the trampoline, and playing with the cousins. He had a cold much of the time but was generally the life of the party. He has a positive energy that I cannot be away from for very long. A trip behavior favorite was that he called Kenna, Ken-ada most of the time. Crazy kid.
• We went to a talent show to see my niece and nephew perform. Very cute.
• Pamela, Barbara, and I dragged nine kids to a pool in Lethbridge and had a blast swinging on the Tarzan-type vine ball, shooting baskets, and riding on (kids) or dragging around (me) giant foam canoes.
• The kids spend an inordinate amount of time using the computer cam on my dad's new Mac. Who knew that contorting your face in every imaginable way and/or recording yourself being crazy could generate so many giggles.
• No trip to Canada is good without a few rounds of Rook. I was a little rusty--meaning I struggled to drop good enough cheating hints to my partners--but it was very fun.
• We had a great Easter egg hunt and mom cooked a lovely turkey dinner.
• A big owl serenaded us to sleep every night. We got a chance to see him one day in the nest behind the house. Big guy.
• We made several slurpie runs to Cardston. Mmmmm Cream Soda Crush with ice cream....Mmmmmm.

No trip is a bed (or road) of roses. Here's what went wrong:
Bad

• I got pulled over for speeding AGAIN. Really? When will I learn? Happily, the nice (an very cute) officer had mercy on me and my smeared mascara and didn't give me a ticket. The cruise control and I were close friends for the rest of the trip.
• Dogs. My dad has three. They are not my favorite but 2 of my 3 kids love them. Stinky. Stinky.
• The weather was warm but melting snow+gravel roads and dirt=a LOT of mud. Yuck.
• We missed my sister Steph's family.
• The dial-up internet connection was a killer. I checked my email a couple of times but it was a painful wait. When I want to waste time, I want to waste it at high speed, okay?!
  

Ugly

• We got sick. Todd threw up Sunday night and was sick most of Monday. Kenna threw up Tuesday night and was sick Wednesday. I threw up Wednesday night and was sick Thursday. Todd threw up Thursday night AGAIN. Wow. I did a lot of laundry and scrubbing. (Alec didn't get "it". Small miracle!)

I love to go home. It is always worth the (very large) effort when I see my kids with their cousins and my parents. Family is a beautiful thing.