Harper and I were supposed to visit my grandparents this past spring and with the house sale and the remodel and move, it just kept getting pushed back. My grandparents had moved into an assisted living apartment this spring and I know they were hankering for some visitors. Kristen called and decided that since she needed to use some vacation days, she would go with us. And, after a hefty airline fee, she decided to drive with Harper and I in the car.
We decided to leave Wednesday evening so they kids could sleep most of the way there. We around 4:30 and made it to McAlister by 6 for dinner. Harper and Grayson were just watching shows and playing on the ipad. Reese was not having any part of the long drive. Kristen gave her a different toy every 5 minutes, but it wasn't enough to suffice. We ate dinner at Braum's which was extremely sentimental since that is where we always ate as kids when we drove to and from Kansas. After letting the kids run wild at dinner, we hit the road. Reese fell asleep immediately and Grayson not long after. Harper and her stubborn self kept her eyes open until 11pm. That kid is a force. We got to Aunt Pat's at 12, set up beds and finally crashed at 1am. Harper kept crying, so I ended up in her bed and bright eyed Grayson woke us up at 5am. Ugh.
My Grandmas has had some anxiety and memory problems lately, so it was good for us to visit. She is such a phenomenal woman, but it is hard getting older. This trip was especially important because it was their first time meeting Reese. When we walked in and Grandma saw Reese, she started crying. It was so sweet! She loves babies and she enjoyed every minute she got with these three!
We visited with Aunt Pat and Uncle Don, had breakfast, and showered. We made it to Paola to see Grandma and Grandpa around 10 and stayed until lunchtime. It was kind of hard to keep 3 toddlers entertained in a 20ft x 10ft room that was not childproofed, but we managed. Kristen talked to Grandpa while I watched the kids, and then we would switch. My grandpa is a talker and he just got back from visiting Washington D.C. on Honor Flight. So he had ALOT to say. :)
These three kids did pretty stinking good considering what we asked of them. They found toys to play with, investigated their apartment, and ran around the place. Grayson kept finding coins, liked playing with the wheelchair, and messed around on the ipad. Harper played with some toys, colored, and watched shows with G. Reese just walked around, picking everything up and showing us her new finds. She did great in that room - she never got bored. We planned on going each day in the morning and afternoon and napping at Pat's in between. It was a 40 minute drive to and from and a few times we ran out of time or had late meals. Thursday morning they played around and Thursday evening they ate dinner while we were there.
They had a veterans day celebation Friday morning while we were there. Grandpa and 2 others were honored and it was a nice ceremony. Grandpa deserves every bit of that. Kristen got him to talk about a lot of his past that day and it is fascinating stuff. He was only in WW2 for 2 weeks before he was injured and sent home. Crazy. So glad we got to celebrate this with him.
Friday morning was little more rough - they were tired of driving and sitting and being good. Plus, the home was having a veterans day celebration so we had a presentation for Grandpa and a few others. Very cool. So Friday afternoon, played outside. Soccer, swings, chase. It was cold but really necessary. Saturday, we packed the car and said goodbye to Pat and Don. We spent the morning at Grandma and Grandpas before heading home at lunchtime.
The drive home was about the same. We ate lunch and both of Kristen's kids slept during naptime. Harper laughed when I asked if she wanted to nap, so she watched a show on the ipad. We stopped after nap and got ice cream and that seemed to get us home. It felt quicker this time for sure. We made it home at 6pm and got all the kids a quick dinner. We transferred the bags and Kristen left for Frisco at 6:30. She called me an hour later and I assumed she was home. Nope. Grayson had thrown up all over himself and his carseat about 10 minutes into the drive and she had to stop and clean it all up. She was still 40 min from home. Ugh. Not good.
It was still a good trip. Hard, but good. It was great to see the grandparents and it was so fun to hang with the McCools. Harper always expects Grayson and Reese to be around whenever she wants them now. And I actually got to talk to Kristen, about real stuff other than kids, for long periods of time. It was so good. Maybe we'll try again next year...
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