We always hate the morning of leaving for a trip. It seems like you think you're all ready then you wake up at the crack of dawn only to realize there were four thousand little things left to do and you don't actually leave until two hours later. We determined not to have that happen to us this year. We orchestrated every last detail. Aaron and I knew our 4:30 am assignments to perfection. No one was allowed to wash their face or brush their teeth. And we were in the car on the way by 5:04 am. It was a smooth operation. But I did regret the no teeth-brushing later on.
The worst weather we had was in Park City where there was lots of snow and bad visibility. After that, we had not one speck of unfortunate weather. The kids were amazing in the car. Annie had been given a portable CD player for Christmas from her Dennis grandparents. Hours and hours of listening pleasure. It was fantastic. Scotty colored and played on the tablet and ate food and looked at books.
When we were halfway through Nebraska, we got some very disappointing news. My dad had a medical emergency (he's better now), and he and my mom would not be able to come for Christmas. Much sadness ensued. Despite being willing to chase my parents across the country, it appears we were just not meant to be with them this Christmas. We pressed on, though, and were still very excited to get to Phil and Kelsey's house.
We arrived later than we needed to because we got lost in Tiny-Town, Ohio and didn't have any cell service or access to google maps or anything and we'd accidentally typed in the wrong address when we had been in civilization. Phil told us the spot we ended up in was probably the one spot in the area we wouldn't have cell service. There were other spots, too. Curse you, T-Mobile! So cheap, yet so unreliable.
Like a true brother, Phil came out looking for us. He said a little prayer and found us right before we were going to go back to the place where we'd first gotten lost. It would have been hard for him to find us there. We arrived at Phil and Kelsey's lovely home, chatted for a minute, and crashed into bed.
Before I went to bed, I had to tell Annie to go to bed several times. I could still hear the girls talking, but I was so tired I told myself they'd surely be sound asleep soon. Phil found them downstairs at 3 am writing a Christmas play. Crazy people! I found the script later. One of the lines was: "Tomorrow is Christmas! And I, I, I, I don't even have any sparkles yet!" The late night brilliance was really taking effect.
The next day the kids played, played, played. And we got reacquainted with our little nieces and nephews. They are great kids! Little Tommy decided to be my friend which was the best. I sat on his couch, and he just snuggled up to me, and we got along great. It's so interesting to see the different personalities in kids that come from the same two parents.
Phil and Kelsey's house is on a very large lot. It feels rural, but they have neighbors and Walmart is ten minutes away. We had fun touring their property seeing their animals and their fruit trees and their lake. It was a beautiful area, even in the dead of winter. They had a goat who kept trying to eat the buttons on my clothes. He was the son of their mama goat who was not their. She was on a "date" at another farm. They had chickens. When the roosters crow too loudly, Kelsey threatens to eat them first. That's not an idle threat, but I'm not sure if the chickens understand it. They also have an enormous, fluffy dog. He kept leaning into me in a friendly way and almost knocking me over. Phil and Kelsey had a cat for a while, but that ended tragically. If you want a good Halloween story, ask them to tell you about the Charred Jar Ghost Cat.
