I know a lot of people think I'm kinda crazy, but the truth is that no matter what, I would much rather pack up our whole crazy family and join Tim in any kind of adventure than stay home and single parent without him. Even if it means traveling across the country to California in a 15 passenger van with all three of our kids and a bunch of high schoolers for 8 days at camp. Okay, let's be honest, I say that people think I'm crazy because that sounds crazy even to me!
In any case, that's exactly what we did. We drove for two days, with Tim in the driver's seat, Phoebe in the seat right behind him, me in the row behind her, and Sophia and Noah right next to each other in the row behind me. Our other driver opted to ride shotgun with Tim. Who could blame him? The down side of that, though, was that for thousands of miles across the country, I didn't have a single conversation with my husband!!! Even though he was in the same car, just a few feet in front of me!!! Instead, I found myself situated perfectly between kids, "trip bags" full of goodies and entertainment, snacks, drinks, blankies, pillows, carseats, kids and chaos.
Thankfully, because we live far enough away from family that we find ourselves on the road frequently, our two oldest kids are already great road trippers, and you wouldn't be able to believe that there wasn't really a complaint between them. (Other than the fact that Sophia would occassionally tell me that her bottom was sore! Mine too, kid, mine too.) For Phoebe, this was the first road trip that she was old enough to realize that she had been confined to her carseat for nearly two days straight. She didn't sleep much the first day, but other than that, she did alright.
Our final destination was a camp in a small California town about 65 miles mostly north and slightly west of LA. We were there to serve for the week, in whatever capacity we were called to. This happens to be the very same camp that I worked at for several summers during college. I was SO excited to be back and even more excited to show my kids what it was all about. They, of course, are much too young to understand my emotional attachment to the place, but it was fun to have them there nonetheless.
The camp has grown significantly since the time I was there. It's WAY more spread out than it used to be. This, of course, means more walking. I am SO thankful we squeezed the stroller in with all our other cargo, because there is no way I would have survived the week without it. It felt like I was hauling kids back and forth all day long as it was; I can't really fathom that I would have made it without being able to load two of them into the stroller for our treks. I'll be honest and admit that I move at about a snail's pace (or less) these days, but still, it would take me a good twenty minutes to migrate from one end of camp to the other. Good thing no one was depending on my speed and promptness!! It certainly made me miss my younger, more agile days of working at camp!
We spent the week at camp, helping in all kinds of different ways, and then when camp closed up on Friday afternoon, the majority of our group headed to 6 Flags Magic Mountain for an evening full of roller coasters and adrenaline. Have I mentioned that my favorite roller coaster in the world is at Magic Mountain? And have I mentioned that I love amusement parks? And that I haven't been to one in more years than I can count? Oh, it was torturous to send the rest of the group off and settle for an evening of In n Out Burger and Cars 2 in 3d with my family. Don't get me wrong. Under "normal" circumstances that sounds like a nearly perfect family night of entertainment for me. But when all the high schoolers came back oohing and aahing over the new rides at Magic Mountain, I was definitely feeling like this baby better be appreciating the sacrifices I was making for her. Cause that felt like a big one! :)
The next day, we headed into Long Beach for a day on the beach before we loaded back up in our vans to journey home. Just exactly where a pregnant lady wants to hang out, right? The beach? In a swimsuit? Ha!! It's all right; I was highly distracted by the excitement of taking our kids to the ocean for the first time. I ~barely~ thought about feeling like a beached whale.
After one last night in California, we once again loaded into our vans for the two day drive home. All in all, it was a great trip. I was SO thankful to have had the opportunity to join the group, and be a part of the experience. My body was SO thankful to be home and done with the 15 passenger van and sitting on my rear end for days on end!
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