Road Trip

Anders had Spring Break last week, so we took the opportunity to do some traveling. We had a few of the grandparents whom we haven't spent time with in a while, so they were our priority. We first saw my wife's mom in Wisconsin. And we had a big snow storm while there, so we didn't get out much, other than a trip to the local gas station. Odd destination? Yes. But the owners are friends of my wife's family, and they're big hunters. Anders has been obsessed with trying a bow and arrow since making an arrow from a straw and construction paper for Valentine's Day at school. It was too snowy to shoot one, but they did take a kid's bow out of the package and pull back the string. Which was enough for him. At the time he said it was the thing he would share at school. And my mother-in-law loves spending time with the boys--she doesn't have many grandkids very close (and many of them are in or near college).

From there we went to Iowa. We spent a night with my sister. We tried to use the swimming pool at her apartment complex, but the water was not heated very well (we don't seem to have much luck with her pool working when we're there). Which was too bad because the boys enjoy using the little swimming skills they've gained. She lives right near my grandmother's independent living facility, which was why we went to Des Moines (we didn't get to see her at Christmas). She's not doing well. Which was hard to see. She's been putting up with a lot of pain lately and doesn't want to end life this way. But the boys were good with her. Both of their great-grandmas are near the end, but it's special that they get to know them. Even if its not in their prime. Sadly, we didn't take pictures while we were there.

We had our last night with my brother and his family--he's got kids near our kids' age, so they love being together. We left late Saturday night so they'd have a full day together.

Our kids travel well. I'm thankful for that. We listened to the first Harry Potter book on tape for a bit of the drive (Anders' friends at school have been talking about it, and he's been wanting to experience Harry Potter, but isn't quite ready for reading it by himself). Anders liked it. Nils wasn't too fond of listening to that much book on tape. We had to take a few breaks for playing "I Spy." Between reading their own books, drawing and playing games, they do well in the car. And that's a good thing for a road trip.