Wednesday, July 04, 2007

what a trip

a week ago tomorrow, we started out on our annual trip to michigan to stay with my folks at their place on lake michigan. when i say "we" i mean the kids, the dog, and me. t stays home and slams down as much work as possible in the month that we're gone. he keeps meaning to come with us, but work keeps getting in the way.

my dad, who is retired, is kind enough to fly to nc then drive a minivan full of madness through 5 states back to his own home, delivering us safely to grandma. what a guy, huh? let's hear it for my dad.

we started out on my almost-bald tires, but when we discovered that there would be rain in the mountains of west virginia, a detour to discount tire was in order. this, of course, set us back a couple of hours and several hundred dollars (not to mention a pleasant 2 hour walk around a shady parking lot with 2 kids and a dog), but we kept on trucking. 8 hours of driving, and we were through akron, ohio, and decided to stop at a motel. finding one that took dogs proved to be a little tricky, but the shady-looking motel6 said okay, so there we camped. turns out it was a "ho"-tel with lovely ladies turning LOUD tricks in the next room. good thing dad didn't have his hearing aids in.

on the road again on friday morning, we realized that after many stops and many walks, the dog still hadn't done her business. not any kind of business. well, you can't force a dog to go, so we just stopped every couple of hours and let her walk, but to no avail. 15 minutes before reaching our destination, the dog finally couldn't hold her bladder any longer, and the splashing noise coming from the back of the van could only mean one thing.

for the past week, we have had a great time playing with my older brother, nephew and niece who are close in age to my kids. here's a pic of the cousins:



and here's a pic of me with my BIG little brother and my little big brother.




everybody (but us) left today, so it's a little quieter around here.

8 comments:

Jay said...

Aw, everybody looks so cute!
Gotta love those roadtrips - hopefully the smell gets aired out before you have to drive back.

Da Mommy said...

I've made that (14 hour) trip from DE to MI and back with the kids and dog every summer for about 12 years...alone. THAT was insane!! Glad you made it safe...and did you say that was YOU in that pic? HOw did you tame the curly mane?? ENjoy your time, I didn't get mine this year...but dear old dad is coming from MI to visit me today :-)

Autumn's Mom said...

ROADTRIP!! Glad you are having a good time. I wish I had somewhere to go for a month.

Lotus Reads said...

Melissa, what a great dad you have! Thank you for the update, so glad everyone's having a good time, especially the kids! Thank you for your card and the wishes, I was thrilled to receive it, you're such a sweetheart. I didn't e-mail you a thank you because I wasn't sure if you could access your account in Michigan. Will write you on the 10th! ;)

Anonymous said...

That's sweet! I like your tee!

Heidi said...

Your kids are so cute, I love the bare feet. You look great, your hair looks pretty, how did you get it so straight and smooth?
Dad sounds very nice, you guys must get along good in order to be able to spend such a long drive together. Hope you continue to have a great time.

Susan in Italy said...

Wow! What a trip! Glad you got there ok. I remember the long long road trips in the car to grandma and grandpa's, never much fun but the destination was always worth it.

Unknown said...

OH gosh, what a trip. At least you all made it safe and sound. Boo for the loss of money so early into the trip