Went North: Part I

Here we go - buckle up for a series of 4th of July posts. The 4th was on Sunday, which made figuring out low traffic travel days very tricky. We eventually decided to head up Thursday night after work. And didn't come home (well ... most of us) until the following Friday. We made the most of our EIGHT days up north. So the next few posts will be a nice flashback for you to a month ago ...

If we needed additional proof (we didn't) that Mike is the best, we got it up on our trip north. Like I said, we headed up Thursday night. Both Mike and I had to work on Friday and my sister was lined up for a Nanny Auntie day with the troops. However, Mike had to work on location at the theatre. But because he didn't want me to have to deal with the drive and the kids by myself and so as not to have two cars up there, he drove us up Thursday night, got up early Friday morning and drove 4 hours back to the cities ... and then came back up Saturday. It's worth saying again ... Mike Is The Best.

I set up shop in the basement for a few meetings and a lot of work - and Auntie came right around 8:30 to take charge. They spent the morning down at her house (I did take a short break to walk down with some sweatshirts for the kids) and then they went to the cabin for a picnic lunch and the afternoon in the lake. All the cousins were there and according to my sources - and the pictures - they had the best time. Meanwhile, I was on a call with an animator at the vide agency I use. He was telling me that he was going north for the 4th. As we discussed further, we found out that he was going to his sister's house - who lives 4 blocks from my parents. Crazy small world!

I finished up work just before 4:00. Even though I knew the kids and Em were heading in around 5pm, I really wanted to go to the lake. So, out I trotted to the garage to ask my dad if I could borrow his car (teenager flashbacks). He did not appreciate when I told him I would drive fast and recklessly so I could get out to the lake more quickly. The kiddos were excited to see me and I was happy to jump in the water and make a quick swim across the bay.

After six hours in the sun, the kids were tired. Q and Dec had decided they were going to do a sleepover at Auntie's for the night. So I delivered them down the road, gave the kisses, and came back to my parents' a little sad that no one seemed to miss me. About 45 minutes later, Auntie returned both non-sleeping Vannestes and they decided they'd rather stay with me for the night. It was awfully hot in the guest rooms and they may have also simply been over-tired. [And maybe they did miss me just a little bit!]

I was glad Auntie returned them when she did - as I was about to call the experiment anyway and retrieve them. I wanted everyone to get enough sleep that we didn't ruin the rest of our trip. As expected, it took a little bit to settle in once they got back to Gma and Gpa's, but it wasn't bad at all. And we all got a good night's sleep. So I can't complain. And ... honestly, Auntie probably slept better too. Because I suspect she would have been on high alert if her houseguests had stayed!