We Made It!

And it really wasn't that bad.  Really.  Yes, it was two full days of driving and that was boring for everyone, but nothing dramatically bad happened.  No breakdowns, no two hour tantrums in the car, no major instances of getting lost.  Just alot of hours in the car with each other, listening to the quiet hum of the DVD player (not quiet, actually, because for some reason I have to have the radio at full volume in the front for the boys to be able to hear it in the back at all, so I can only tolerate one movie every 5 hours or so).  It was really a very long way and a very many hours - like 20.  Also, I remember that at one point in driver's ed I learned that on a long car trip, it's best to stop ever two hours or 100 miles, whichever comes first.  I will have to say that we were averaging more like 15 minutes or 15 miles, whichever comes first, during parts of our trip.  Like we would get in the car, drive a little ways and then I would realize that I had to have coffee.  So we would stop.  Then I would think that since we were stopping anyway, maybe we should hit the bathroom.  So we would all get out, cram into the handicap stall of the ladies' room, which elicted a protest from the boys each and every time, and use the bathroom one at a time while the others tried to keep Ruby from touching anything on the floor (unsuccessfully, for the most part).  All set, 20 minutes later we were back in the car.  Drive 45 minutes.  Realize that we're all hungry.  Stop to eat.  And so on and on and on until we finally arrived in Texas. 

Since we've been here, we've been swimming, hanging out with my brother and his family, eating lots and trying to keep everyone from getting sunburned.  Gus was sidelined yesterday with strepp and a lovely scarlett fever rash - thank God for the Minute Clinic, but he seems a little better today and is determined to go crabbing with us this morning.  My parents used to take me and my brother crabbing when we were little, and even though it was never my favorite pasttime, it seems to be an activity that little boys can't get enough of.  I mean, what's not to love about dangling a chicken neck off of a string while you stand in the blazing hot sun beating off flies and mosquitoes?  Ruby will not be crabbing with us today, as I don't think she's old enough yet to appreciate the thrill of the catch.  Next year for her. 

More to come ...