There And Back Again: A Mamma's Tale

Last night Darin and I pulled our little "minvan that could" back into our driveway after spending Christmas in Texas with my family. When Darin and I were newlier-wedded we used to think our periodic drives to Texas were rather romantic. That's mostly because when Darin and I were "dating" each other long-distance between Des Moines and San Antonio, we calculated the difference from his house (now my house!) to my parents' home to be just a hair over 1000 miles. Since we both loved the song "500 Miles" in which the singer declares to the girl he loves that he would "walk 500 miles" and then "walk 500 more to be the man who'd walk 1000 miles to fall down at her door", we loved the fact that there was 1000 miles between our homes. So driving there together has always been... you know... romantic!

Well, now that we have a doggie, a toddler and baby in our family, the drive to Texas is a little different. Adventurous? Absolutely. Exciting? Sure. Romantic? Not so much...

Our plan of attack to get to Texas was to drive the 12 hours to Dallas (where my big sis and her family are) straight through the night to keep the babies sleeping as much as possible. Even with the numerous stops for fuel, to nurse Collin and change diapers, that leg of the drive went beautifully. We were albeit, extremely tired when we arrived at 6 AM, but my children were received by a loving Aunt, Uncle and three doting cousins so Darin and I could nap a bit. We had a blast staying with my family there for a couple days. It was awesome for Collin to meet his cousins and uncle-he'd already met Kelly when she visited us back in October!

Here's Lucy with her new pal, Shawnee, the newest four-legged addition to Kelly and Greg's household!

After a couple days, we contined our southward trek to San Antonio in broad daylight. All I'll say regarding the five hour drive, is that the portable two-screen DVD player we bought on black friday proved to be a great investment. Lucy tolerated the time in the carseat with the help of "Baby Siging Time" and "Miss Patty Cake". : )

Christmas in San Antonio was special for so many reasons. It was awesome to finally introduce Collin to my brother, as well as my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins there. Lucy had a great time playing with "Grandpa", "Mamma Gail" and "Uncle Paul" and seeing the other extnded family again as well. It was also special to spend time with the church family I grew up with and participate in the Christmas Eve service there.

Lucy checks out a present from Uncle Paul waiting for her on Christmas Morning!

Collin and Mamma Gail love on each other.

After a great time with family and mild temperatures in the 60s and 70s, we started our trek northward. An unforseen migraine and fever for Darin (that we now know was caused by strep throat!) caused us to forsake our ambitions of driving 17 hours straight through from SA to Des Moines and we crashed at my dear friend's home in Fort Worth overnight. The next morning we plowed ahead and drove the rest of the way home (12 hours), relying heavily on over-the-counter drugs (for Darin), coffee and more "Baby Signing Time" and "Miss Pattycake". We were all on the brink of insanity and over our threshold for fast-food and public potties when we rolled into Des Moines, but we made it.

Darin is unfortunately very sick and sleep-deprived and has had to spend all day in bed today. The babies and I were just happy to get bathed and spend last night and today at home with our regular beds, and familiar surroundings.

So, while this trip wasn't the "easy", light-hearted and romantic experience that Darin and I had in the first couple years of our marriage, having two beautiful children to make the crazy trip with is such a sweet dream-come-true, that it was absolutely worth the extra effort! We're so thankful for the safety that God granted us and the wonderful time of celebration with loved ones!

PS. -Wish we had better pictures to share. My parents and sister did a much better job capturing our time together on camera than Darin and I did!