Road trip...

The kids and I have just returned from a short road trip.  Preparing for the trip was pretty stress-free, despite it being right after celebrating AJ's 13th birthday.  Yes, we now have two teenagers!  Yay!!

I had a small bag for each of us to pack a few clothes in and said that it would either be enough, or if we needed any warmer clothes, we could go to the local op shop where we were staying.

The first five minutes of a road trip is where my brain is going through a mental check list to remind myself that yes, I did lock all of the doors and turn off all of the electrical appliances except the refrigerators, and that sort of thing.  As soon as I hit the highway, I detach from all of that and let the adventure take over!

This time, we got away a little later than I'd hoped, but I refused to stress about it.  We stopped off at an electrical shop to buy a portable DVD player.  It had been years since we've travelled with one of those.  Often we listen to audio books, or play games, or listen to music or just chat.  The last time I travelled with the children, Nicholas' anxiety was super high and the first half of the trip was awful for him.  I thought the DVD player might help to distract him.  Worked like a charm this time!

We were only away for 6 days, but it seems like longer.  We had such a great time with my family, it was sad to part.  We didn't do anything super fancy, just hung out, shared meals, went for walks, played games, and goofed around.  I hadn't seen my sister for two years!  Far too long.  The last time my brother, sister and I were all together was for our Dad's funeral.  So it was really good to get together for some fun times.

 ..and fly some kites...

...hunt for Geocaches with cousins...

...making sure we obey the rules!

...part of the view from my sister and brother-in-law's beach house "the sandcastle"...

magical!

Coming back to our house was kind of sad.  I already missed my family, and I felt no attachment to our house or anything in it.  I was ready for more adventures and connection.  However, Sam was looking forward to seeing her friends, AJ was looking forward to unlimited internet and Nicholas was looking forward to getting back to his home base.  I need to make sure that it's not so long in between visits with family.   Time is precious!