Unexpected Travel

Lisa's Blog
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My kids and I decided to make a quick trip to visit my parents this weekend.  It was a last minute decision….as in, “Kids!  Let’s pack and leave in 10 minutes!”

People running around, everyone scattered, can someone pack for Levi, don’t forget movies to watch in the car on the 5 hour drive…..move, move, move!

I had made plans for the weekend, but James announced that he would be locked in his office all day Saturday and Sunday studying for the finals he has to take this week.  By the way, am I the only one that thinks I am too old to have a husband who is studying for finals?  Just to be clear, I’m not a cougar.  James decided to go back to school in his mid 40’s, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t discussed when we got married.  Unless you consider it wrapped into the “for worse” part of the program.

Anyway, since we would be putting off Father’s Day for a week, we went to visit my dad.  He’s not studying for finals so it was safe to assume he had nothing better to do than feed us for two days.

The visit was nice, but the drive home was not so pleasant.  A couple of my kids have minor bladder issues and when we travel, if I don’t to remind them to drink lots of water, they feel pretty bad by the time we are heading home.  One of them was in misery and we had to stop for a bathroom break every 20 minutes.  “Mommy!  I need to go NOW!,”  I’d hear in a panicked voice from the back of the van.  Poor thing.  I’d stop where I could, but sometimes it was too late.  We should be an ad for family vacations…..driving along with the windows rolled down in 104° temperatures because the van reeks of urine, trash bags of wet clothes, desperately searching for a Sonic, people crying, Daddy not there because he’s in law school at the age of 46….it’s a dream come true.  If you have very bad dreams.

OK, so maybe it wasn’t quite that horrible.  It was an opportunity to teach my kids to make the best of a hard situation, so we chugged Sonic ice and cranked up the Beach Boys sing “Surfin’ USA” over and over.  My kids thought the music sounded, “So weird Mom,” which made it even more fun for me.  What’s weird about suggesting that we could surf across the entire United States if we wanted to?

Now we’re home and back to the air conditioning and everyone is feeling better. James is studying, kids are mulling about, I may play some more Beach Boys in the house….just to keep the party going.

12 Comments

  3. No matter the temperature, it’s not really summer til I hear the Beach Boys.
    Glad you a safe trip, if somewhat unpleasant.

  6. Lovely that you could go and visit your dad for Father’s Day. Here in Australia we don’t celebrate Father’s Day until the first Sunday in September. So if James is too busy until then you could always celebrate Australian style!

  7. Woohoo for California girls!! We’re not all we’re cracked up to be! Sorry about all the potty breaks…not sure what you could for that – YOU are the expert in this area so if you have nothing, I’ve got even less! OOh, maybe you could have one of those port-a-potties hitched to the back of your car???

    Becky B.
    http://www.organizingmadefun.com
    Organizing Made Fun

  8. Hoo hoo hoo ha ha! You all crack me up. Becky, you are so right. I should know what to do in these cases. I have puh-lenty of experience. LOL! Lisa~

  9. Chevy Chase may want this script, Lisa! 😀 As I recall, and you really can’t rely on my memory, you put Mother’s Day off for a week, too? Law School at 46 ….. that’s a little worse than my Bachelor of Nursing at 30. I remember what I said to people, though, and the same goes for James: “How old will you be when you graduate?” “35.” “How old will you be at that time any way?” “35.” Aha!

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