October 20

Hotel stays with little ones are never as fun as hotel stays by yourself. Am I right on this? Caleb and Daisy did OK sleeping in our OK(lahoma) hotel, but when Daisy woke up at 5:15 to nurse and play like she does every day, Caleb woke right up. Darn it.

Then Daisy's disposable diaper got too full and leaked, leaving a wet spot on the bed. The logical solution was to switch beds, so 5:30 am found all four of us in one queen-sized bed. No one slept, but we had a nice family snuggle. At 6, I gave up and took Daisy and Caleb to the lobby for breakfast so that Chris could get another hour of sleep. Caleb was delighted to see Albert Pujols on TV because of the Cardinals' win in Game 1 of the World Series last night. As he chatted away about Albert Pujols and Busch Stadium and pitching the ball, businessmen around us started raising their eyebrows. Apparently they weren't used to two-year-olds being so well-versed in Cardinals baseball.

Then it was time for Grandma's funeral. After the funeral, we drove through the small town where she lived, looking for her long-time home.  Amongst all of the dilapidated Craftsman bungalows, we found hers:

Grandma's declining health forced her to move out and sell her house a year or two ago, but to Chris it was still "her" house. When she moved to the retirement community, Chris' uncle even took her beloved porch swing from the old house and hung it in front of her new apartment.

Daisy wore a special dress to the funeral - one of the ones that Grandma made when Gayle was a baby. I couldn't resist a shot of Daisy with her Grandmother, in a dress Grandmother once wore.

Daisy and Caleb were thrilled to see Grace.

Well, Caleb was thrilled to see Grace. Daisy was thrilled to see the newspaper.

What can I say? The girl is an avid reader.

(I took photos over a year ago of Caleb sitting with his Great-Grandma on the same couch. We're all sad that Daisy didn't get to sit with Great-Grandma on the couch, too.)

Chris' Uncle Bill and Aunt Karen just got a new dog, Buddy. Daisy liked him a lot. Caleb thought he was Duffy, a dog featured in several of his favorite books.

Bill made a little turtle stool that Caleb thought was the coolest thing ever. He thought he was such a big boy when he climbed up on it, then got a little nervous when he reached the top. We finally coaxed him into raising his hands in the air, and then he thought the whole thing was awesome. Then he leapt off.

Back in the car. Six Eight more hours of torture driving.

She was ok at first. She would have been fine if it weren't for her rascally brother.

If only he had been this entertaining the whole trip. I think there were only two major meltdowns, but they were MAJOR. He finally fell asleep, only to wake up screaming two hours later. In an attempt to pacify him, I offered him a sippy cup of water, which he managed to dump all over himself. Then he started screaming even harder. At that point, I was ready to give him away to any random trucker when we stopped at the rest area to put dry clothes on him. But I realized that truckers don't generally take wet, screaming two-year-olds, so I contemplated throwing him out the window as a back-up plan.

Thankfully, it never came to that, and we finally made it home. However, I have officially decided that I am never driving these children anywhere ever again. We're not taking another road trip until they're teenagers who can drive themselves.