{on the road}

Day 4 into our trip. LOTS of driving, of course. The kids have both been surprising well-behaved in the car. On Friday we were in the car for about 8 1/2 hours, including a dinner break and a few bathroom breaks.

Saturday was more of the same. We got a late start because big Gerard had to visit Steelers heaven, aka The Steelers Outlet Store. He has been DYING to go to there since he found out about its existence. Several hours and several dollars later, we hit the road. We lost another hour when we hit this:

It went on for about 4 miles.

I’d rather be stuck behind this accident than IN it. We saw the car getting carted away -- it hit and slid under an 18-wheeler and a girl was pinned in it for 90 minutes. Not a pretty sight.

Once again, both kids were great in the car.

Once we got to Nani and Poppy’s house, it was late and past their bedtime. Gerard kindly read to Morgan before they hit the hay.

The next day we jumped in the car again and drove to Aldine and Jeff’s. Gerard asked if we were going to drop him off for his playdate with Eliya and Noah. He was shocked when I told him that it was actually MY PLAYDATE because I was friends with Aldine before he was friends with Eliya. The look on his face said “WHAT? MOMMY HAD A LIFE BEFORE ME???”

The weather was pretty crummy when we first got there, but as soon as the sun broke free we headed to the pool. Morgan had fun in the little wading pool and Gerard had fun watching Eliya jump off the diving board into the deep end. He was so impressed!

They were probably most excited to get ice cream after swimming. Nothing like Spiderman and Dora on a stick to brighten a day!

Eliya had fun dressing Morgan up. Morgan had more fun GETTING dressed up.

We had a very nice time visiting them. Thanks for lunch and dinner, guys! Of course I waited until the last possible moment to try to get a picture of all the kids. Not too smart waiting until they were all too tired to keep their eyes open. Nothing like asking 4 tired and cranky kids to pose nicely on the couch and SMILE!