Last week we went on a real adventure. Some people might actually qualify our adventure as torture... meh.. tomato/tomato.. (does that saying work in text? You get my drift!).
This year my grandpa turned 80. He thought it would be a great idea to have a family reunion to celebrate this life milestone. What a good idea! He had been to a family friendly hotel/inn with 3 pools and a family style restaurant a few years prior that he thought would be perfect. What a great idea! He invited everyone and paid for our room and board and most of our food. What a nice idea!
ENTER BAD IDEA:
Book this hotel/inn which is located in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania. Which is located in Lancaster. Which is CLEAR on the other side of the state. And in case you didn't know.. Pennsylvania is a pretty long state. A 10.5 hour drive to be exact (which of course does not include any gas/potty/food/sanity stops).
(* please note * everyone who went on this trip- outside of my immediate family- lives in New Jersey. For them it was a 2.5-3 hour trip).
Robb and I went back and forth for MONTHS trying to decide if we would be able to go. When we first learned about the trip we knew we were pregnant but did not know we were having twins, so we thought we could possibly make it. Yes we would have a newborn but we thought it might be doable. Then we found out we were having twins and pretty much left our attendance as a big question mark; dependent on if they were born premature and needed lots of medical attention or a long hospital stay, dependent on whether they were good babies or colic-y or cranky, dependent on if we were in the right frame of mind/getting any sleep to attempt this kind of road trip. Well our twins were born full term, are mostly happy/content babies and Robb and I get enough sleep to function properly.
There were actually a lot of other factors as to whether or not this trip would be doable for us but in the end- we decided to go. Along with Granpa, Gramma Alida, Dad, Mom, Uncle Bob, Aunt Gail, Uncle Jim, Aunt Deb, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kathy, cousins Kristin, Kevin, Ryan, David, Lindsay, Megan, Anna, Scottie, Katie, Tommy, siblings Ben, Laura, Doug, Kate, nieces/nephews Abraham, Abby, Sofi, Austin, Cody, Gina, Kelly, Bryce, Trevor and of course my family Robb, myself, Grant, Tanner, Lucas and Landon.
All in all folks that is 23 adults and 16 kiddos. We were a pretty impressive crew!
According to my calculations, out of our 96 hour trip- we spent 30 in our van. To some people this might not seem like that much. But when you have a family of 2 boys who are ALL BOY and 2 5 week old twins... I repeat- some might consider this torture.
HOWEVER- PRAISE GOD- it really went quite well. We strategically planned our stops so we didn't ever have longer than a five hour stretch stuck in the van and we purchased a headrest dvd player for Grant and Tanner. I even had the older boys make up their own "fun box" - filled to the brim with books, toys, car friendly markers, etc.
We had a lot of fun catching up with family we don't often get to see, we enjoyed the pools and playground, we loved the breakfast and supper buffet (never had a fresher, doughier, yummier donut in all my life!) and we were thoroughly delighted by the play- JOSEPH at the Sight and Sound Theatre.
We are very glad we decided to go and are so thankful for Grampa's life and God's goodness, faithfulness
and presence in our family.
(picture of the whole gang COMING SOON!!)
oh. my. goodness.
ReplyDeleteglad it went well!