Gray skies and happy kids

My kids are bundled in fleece and I am in long pants and a sweatshirt. We left L.A. in time to miss the earthquake and are enjoying some restful and currently chilly days with our Seattle family. Doug left early this morning for Hawaii to host one of Fuller’s DMin courses there, and the kiddos and I are figuring out how our life works at Grammy and Pop Pop’s house. Elijah really wants to go head first down the stairs and eat Laylah’s dog food, Mercy is thrilled with Grammy’s play-house and the sand table outside, and Aaron has located every ball and vehicle in the house.

We did the drive in two days which is the quickest we have ever tried with the small ones, and it actually went quite smoothly. Our usual host families along the way were all out of town, so we stayed our night in Medford, Oregon in a very empty house. Our host usually brings out a box of toys for the kiddos, but because they were gone we did not have those things so the kids did their best to entertain themselves. One of the most coveted items was that Sharper Image toy with a million different nail-like pieces that forms the shape of whatever is pressed against it. Mercy’s Cinderella figurine spent a lot of time in it, as did various animals.

It was moments before we were ready to hop into the van to leave that next morning when there was an “uh-oh” heard over by the fireplace. I looked over and saw Aaron, on the floor, with hundreds of little nail pieces spilling out around him. He had found the screws that held the plates of this toy together and, being Aaron had quickly figured out how to unscrew them.

We had timed our departure perfectly for when the baby’s nap should happen, but now we faced a fairly substantial delay while first Doug and then I sat crouching by the fireplace, inserting what seemed like thousands of little nails one by one into a black plastic plate. We ended up strapping the kiddos all into the van and Doug went to get gas while I finished threading nails in peace and quiet. An hour later, the toy was re-assembled and we were on our way to Starbucks to fill up the thermos for the day’s drive.
Ah, road trips with children.