Are We There Yet?

It had been a couple of years since we visited the boys' maternal grandparents in Florida, so we compared the flight/rental car cost to the gas/mental expenses of driving 12+ hours with our guys and opted for the latter. These are the adventures they'll remember for the rest of their lives! Me, too. I'll remember "Dad, are we almost there?" questions before we got to Baton Rouge. I'll remember I should have packed our not-quite-potty-trained two-year-old's clothes on the top of the trunked items (for the two times we had to do complete changes from over-filled diapers). I'll remember the one "surprise bag" toy we bought for along-the-way entertainment that did not have an identical pairing and the weeklong fight that followed over it. I'll remember their adventures (with us) on their grandparents' golfcart. I'll remember Nathan climbing to the top of the sofa to escape a tiny little dog named Pebbles, and Evan clutching the same dog one-handed by her belly fur (Look, Daddy, I holding the doggie!). I'll remember swimming pool adventures, Father's Day at the Magic Kingdom, and light-house hunting. I'll remember low-mounted light switches, grandfather clock pendulums, and low-mounted fan switches. I'll remember lighthouse adventures, splashing in fountains, echoes in tunnels, and the frog in the A/C fan (It's hard to stop a Trane!). I'll remember 20 minute potty breaks where no one went. I'll remember the value of "sippy cups" in the car, rain ponchos at amusement parks, and a family that weathered the storm of our boys' visit. (What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!) I'll share more specific snapshots (and pics) of our trip in the blogs ahead, but for now we're all glad to be home in one piece!