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| My two Thanksgiving turkeys. |
And we're also thankful for the family we now live within driving distance of. Or, as I was thinking last Monday evening, "driving distance."
I'd spent the previous week preparing for the nine-hour trek north, plus the ensuing return trip, which would span two days and include a hotel stay. By the time I'd carefully secured everything from cold treatments for the whole family (including our humidifier!) to umpteen car ride distractions and snacks, I was unclear whether we were venturing to Minnesota or Mars: either way, we were prepared. I later learned I'd forgotten only one thing: swimsuits for Matt and I, but it didn't matter as the hotel's luggage rack ended up being entertainment enough for all of us. More about that later.
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| An indoor park in Minnesota. Look, no coat! |
Both girls entered the trip giddy with excitement, emitting cute-to-shrill screams every time I mentioned we were going to go visit Grandma and Grandpa. Clearly, we were making the right decision in taking this trip. For her part, Kalina carefully planned all of Lamby and Costume Cow's care for their stay at the Grandparents' house, even contacting Grandma once or twice to make inquiries about their accommodations. All conversations at home centered around, "Let's talk about what Lamby needs at Grandma and Grandpa's house!" To which I'd reply, "Alright, well, she'll need ____ (food, water, toys, pasture, snuggles, etc.)," and to which Kalina would return with a well thought out, albeit long-winded and not always rational, solution.
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| Out of the car and into a tunnel! |
We left promptly at 7:00 a.m.--and would've been out the door at 6:00 except Elise had been sleeping in the previous five days and we wanted to take full advantage of that. Although the little one was a bit grumpy at being stuffed into a cold car first thing in the morning, Kalina was all smiles, gripping Lamby and chattering happily about the nap Lamby was taking on her lap.
By the end of the first hour or so, though, the bigger girl had realized that when we said it'd be a big trip to Minnesota, we meant it'd be a lot farther than the grocery store and even the zoo. Her smile faltered. I whipped out the first big car surprise--special markers that only color on special pictures of Hello Kitty. Eight minutes later, we'd tested all the colors and were looking for something else to do. How do I break it to a three-year-old that that was the something else? This became a common theme of the trip; I'm pretty sure she expected me to hand back a live kitten or its equivalent.
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| A brave girl and a brave lamb. |
My biggest worry, however, had been entertaining Elise. How do you keep a child, whose main entertainment nowadays usually comes in the form of carrying handheld toys from one place to another, content for 9+ hours at a time while confined in a carseat? I counted on lots of napping, plus lots of snacks.
As it turned out, Elise surprised me on two counts: 1.) After the occasional "Am I really still in my carseat, and will a few high-pitched protestations change the situation?" the girl would calm down and quite contentedly fiddle with a book or toy for longer than I would've guessed possible. Her favorite activity was reading books upside-down and in fact, over the course of the trip she probably spent a good four hours with an upended board book in her hands. Another favorite? Spotting semi trucks on the road. "Tuh, tuh!" She'd tell us every time she noticed one. 2.) Over the three long legs of our trip, ranging in duration from nine hours to four hours, some of which was at night and each of which encompassed a naptime, Elise slept a grand total of about two and a half hours. This overlapped with Kalina, who slept about an hour and a half, by about 15 minutes total. And yet, we survived.
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| The best seat in the house. |
But really, the drive went great, and about every hour someone commented on how glad we were that we weren't in an airplane, and how lovely the barren Iowa fields looked (we're truly midwesterners at heart). We zoomed through cornfield after cornfield, Matt driving and evaluating both crops and deer movements (or, more commonly, lack thereof) and me spending most of my time turned halfway around in my seat digging through toy/snack/book and CD/DVD bags and solving minor disagreements. After only two 15-minute stops, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house in record time.
And yes, the drive was well worth it! Kalina was over the moon with "her" room at Grandma and Grandpa's, which included a real big girl bed, a bed for her animals and even the litter box she'd requested before her arrival (for the kittens, of course). Elise was simply happy to be out of the car and allowed to toddle around at will. She soon claimed a pint-sized blue chair and four squishy balls as her own, as well as several teddy bears that she and Kalina both negotiated for the entire trip.
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| Thanksgiving dinner! |
In addition to playing at Grandma and Grandpa's, we also explored the woods, which Kalina was not only happy to hike through, but also to lead me and Grandma through very gently, pointing out sites like a mouse hole and fallen logs, making sure we never stumbled and occasionally asking if our legs were tired. How sweet!
And we explored the area library, which connected to an amazing indoor park, complete with a giant slide playground. Kalina set foot in a bounce house for the first time ever, and ventured down some fairly impressive (for her) slides, while Elise climbed on rocks, navigated an obstacle course of hanging bumpers, sailed in a pretend boat and pointed with frantic excitement at nearly everything.
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| One last story before taking off. |
We also hosted Thanksgiving dinner for lots of Odegaard relatives. Kalina helped Grandma make placecards and get the dishes ready (or did Grandma help her?). Elise ran up and down the hallway, enjoying the sounds her feet made. When the guests arrived, Kalina greeted them with, "Happy Thanksgiving," at which point both girls would gleefully "gobble, gobble, gobble." What a duo.
As far as the meal was concerned, Kalina and Elise thoroughly enjoyed the rolls. Kalina ate the marshmallows out of a salad and then stuffed herself with turkey while Elise turned her scrunched up nose up at both without so much as a curious nibble. *Sigh.* Maybe next year my youngest will eat protein. The littler one did, however, manage a few bites of sweet potato and fruit before ending her meal, a feat rarely achieved by her big sister. (Everything was absolutely delicious, by the way!)
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| Helping Grandpa clean up the blocks he was playing with. |
The next day, after some sad goodbyes, we headed back down to Iowa for a whirlwind visit with several family members and friends. A four-hour drive seemed easy, and mostly was, and we soon landed at Uncle David and Aunt Debbie's house, where Grandpa Hanks, Uncle Tom and Angela were waiting. The kids played with toys and/or, in Elise's case, sat tiredly on Daddy's lap watching football. Old pros by now at sitting, they happily navigated not one, but two restaurants (one for supper and one for brunch the next morning) with some entertaining/wrangling help from Daddy.
In addition to catching up, we also convinced Uncle David to perform his famous elephant noise for the girls, who happily joined in. And to think I used to be afraid of it!
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| Look! Kalina's not sitting by either parent! What a big girl! |
At the hotel, two sleepy girls found a second (or third, or fourth, or eighteenth) wind as they enthusiastically raided the hotel room for anything of entertainment value. Kalina got a lesson in using the "old-fashioned" phones, the likes of which she'd never seen; Elise tested her pack and play (with help from Kalina); Elise colored on herself and me with the pen I was using to write down some directions; and Elise "filled and spilled" the free toiletries into and out of the ice bucket, etc. I had to laugh at my good-natured little tornadoes. The pre-bedtime crazies culminated in a ride up and down the hallway on the luggage rack, after which both girls settled down remarkably well and slept just fine.
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| Elise tries out her bed, with lots of toys from Kalina. |
The next big event, after Mommy sneaked out for some early Christmas shopping with Aunt Debbie, was brunch with Uncle Alan and Aunt Diane. Kalina cheerfully re-introduced Lamby, and Elise graced them with some of her, "I'm bright and happy as long as I'm in Mommy's arms" smiles. The little one did consent to be held by both for a total of about 30 seconds.
And then we once again hit the road, making one final quick stop at a friend's house in Pella. We saw Curtis, Jess, Isaac and Lily before heading home.
As expected, the homeward trip was the most long difficult, as no more naps were to be expected in the 5 1/2 hour trek and the road was rainy and dreary. Actually, the mood was pleasant until about 4:30 p.m., when the sun all but gave up its somewhat weak attempts to illuminate a mid-winter world below dense cloud cover. Poor thing, I think we almost burned it out. I used its last rays to eek out a few more stories, until Kalina had to squint at the illustrations and I could no longer make out the words.
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| Kalina and Lamby practice sleeping. |
We raised our spirits with some kids music before resorting to bottomless snacks/supper and Veggie Tales to carry us through the rest of the drive. Kalina and Lamby peacefully passed out around 7:30, even amid Little Sister's 45 minutes of wailing/screeching. By 7:45, both kids were asleep, and we arrived home 15 minutes later. Matt had the car unloaded by the time I put all the sleepytime articles in place. Neither child was happy to be awakened to be put to bed, but survived the transition well enough.
To add festivity to festivity, Grandpa Hanks followed us home to stay a couple days. He and the girls played endless games of "Hide the Thimble" and "Fall back and stand me up" before his trip, too, was over.
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| Ready for a ride (except Matt). |
Our Thanksgiving trek passed by in a bit of a blur, but it was a happy blur, and we promised everyone we visited to stay a bit longer next time. The promise holds true: we fully intend to see a lot more Iowa cornfields and midwestern friends and relatives--and for this possibility, we are truly thankful.
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