The Journey Home

What an adventure this Christmas vacation was for us. Started out rough with illness in the car, but ended on a good note.
I went out with friends as I shared in a previous post. I was saddened by those I missed due to weather and illness.
We had a wonderful Christmas with all of my immediate family. Christmas eve was a great night with my Grandmother and couisns. We were ablet to see my cousins home for the first time. They have made many improvements on it and were proud of their accomplishments. It was great. I am so happy for them. We had a great time. Great Grandma is still doing well. We visited her later in the week. She is in a new place and seems to have adjusted. The kids and I got to play Bingo and everyone got a prize.
We managed to sneak in a trip to the water park and to see Yogi Bear. The kids had so much fun at the water park. It was our first time there. They boys ventured off with their dad on the water slides. Grandpa made many trips around the lazy river and the girl loved the two slides that were just her size. She wouldn't dare try a water slide, not even one you could see the end of. Six was unstoppable! He wanted to try them all and loved each one. Five too was eager to try, but didn't quite enjoy some as much as others. They are little fish and great swimmers.
We were not able to attend the wedding as planned. I was so very disappointed about that. The kids loved New Years Eve. They were in bed by 9 or shortly after. We had Oreo ice cream cake, candles, etc. We were sort of stranded in TRF for two days. Such a terrible blizzard changed every ones plans. Well, if we were going to be stuck anywhere, that was the place for us to be. We were able to attend mass one more time. It was probably the best time too. Five chose our seats in a pew close to the front. I couldn't help but watch the boys throughout the service. Both boys were seated between N and my dad. They sat and watched everything Father R did very closely. It was a special moment. I can't help but get emotional every time I return home to church. The church was such a big part of my childhood and adulthood. You don't quite realize how special it is until you are away and not able to be there on a regular basis. I want to try to establish that for my children too. It's part of what gets me to mass every week.
I wish we had spent more time with my siblings. They all asked about going to Auntie J's house on our way home and begged their dad to change the route. Next time I guess. Can't do it all in one trip.
Weather played a key role in our return trip. Traveling in winter can bring many surprises into your path. We left my parents house shortly after 6am. We did not make it out of MN as soon as we would have liked. Icy roads made speed difficult. It took us much longer than it would under normal road conditions. We finally made it to Duluth and it seemed like were were then going to make progress. Everyone was getting fussy. We were all tired from the long day and by 5pm, we decided to stop. The GPS said we wouldn't be home until after 1am if we continued. We have stayed in Marquette MI before and decided that would be a good location to stop at. We decided to try a Days Inn. It was wonderful! We had a huge room with three queen beds! It was just what we needed to enjoy the end of a long day. The kids had a wonderful time. The pool was great. We all slept in until 9am the next morning. We made it home by 6 and were all relieved. I let the kids stay home from school on Tuesday to give them a day of rest at home. They made it back to school today and were happy campers when I picked them up. Now that it is supper time, they of course are restless and picking on their dad.
I have unpacked everything and taken down the Christmas stuff. Worst part about vacationing for the holidays is having to come home and take all that stuff down so late in the season.
And so it is, back to the routine.