The drive to camp - Bryan was home from work all day as we prepared to go to camp. He had some errands to run and then helped keep the girls out of the way while I packed. Both girls took great naps. Good for packing, not so good for sleeping later. At 8:30 pm, we left for Iowa. I drove, Bryan napped, the girls talked until 11 before falling asleep. :/ Half an hour into the drive, I realized we had forgotten the pack and play. I called Mom, and she said not to worry about it. To quote her, "We have two engineers, a physicist, and a roll of duct tape. We'll figure it out. You should be worried." Switched drivers at 1 am and again at 6 am (all Eastern time). Gretchen did not go back to sleep well after the 1 am switch. Olivia woke up at 2 (or maybe 3), upset about still being in her seat. Everyone was out again by 3:30ish and both made the 6 am switch much more easily. At 8:30 our time which was 7:30 Nebraska time, we arrived at camp. Welcoming crews were out. :)
Campout - We shared a cabin with Justine's family, which worked out pretty well. Gretchen borrowed Edward's pack and play while Edward, being less mobile still, slept on the floor. Not enough naps were taken, but much fun was had. Volleyball and soccer and talking for the adults, playing on the playground and jumping pillow for Olivia, rocks and sand for Gretchen. Sounds like Gretchen got the worst end of that deal, but she was happily content with her rocks and sand, especially if given a cup in which she could put all the treasures she discovered. Gift exchange was Wednesday, pictures were a breeze, Olivia loved her green camp shirt, and the hymn sing on Thursday night was really great (until Gretchen woke up and I had to leave). The rain didn't start until Thursday night after the hymn sing, and the weather was not too hot or muggy the rest of the time. Also, does Nebraska not have mosquitoes? I didn't see any.
The drive to MI - We were originally planning to leave Thursday night, but I didn't see that going well and the way out wasn't spectacular enough for Bryan to insist. We did manage to get a pretty good start Friday morning, which we then somehow squandered so as to be the last ones in Friday night. We traveled the way Bryan's family does, which is to say we went through drive-thrus and/or stopped at restaurants rather than packing food. After dinner, Bryan actually admitted that his family's way didn't seem any easier than the way my family does it (and we already knew it was more expensive). Hah, another (maybe) convert! Olivia got mild food poisoning from some milk that was left at car temperature too long, so we added some time taking care of her. The only casualty was one quiet book page, which I discreetly pitched at the next gas station. We got in to my parents' house at midnight, bringing our total trip time to 14 hours.
The wedding - My weekend was full of wedding festivities because my roommate Danielle got married. She married and Indian-from-India guy, so there was an Indian engagement ceremony on Saturday after the rehearsal. I got to wear (and keep!) a saree, and I learned that one can never have enough water when eating Indian food. The ceremony on Sunday was American (although they did exchange vows in both English and Tamil), so I was in a regular dress and heels. I haven't worn heels in over a year; this was a terrible experience. Luckily, the ceremony was short and pictures were well organized, so I was able to kick off the heels fairly quickly for the reception. An Indian man gave one of the speeches and, since he had never attended an American wedding before, didn't follow any of the usual patterns for speeches, delivering the most hilarious speech/toast any of us had ever heard. Bryan, Jacque, and I helped clean up a little afterwards and then got back to my parents' house around midnight (again).
The trip home - We left Monday morning to go back to Ohio. Bryan had to work Monday afternoon, so we left pretty early and spent the whole trip down convincing Olivia that there was no need to stop on such a short trip. We burned through all the toys we had with us (which lasted all the way back from Nebraska with no problem) in the first half of the trip. We finally made it home and the girls celebrated by dumping the toys out all over the floor.
The rest of this week has been unpacking and settling back in. I thought I turned the dishwasher on before we left, but apparently I did not, because I opened it to find a closed soap container and moldy dishes Monday night. :( Two sterilizing cycles later, I gave up and rewashed all the dishes by hand. Luckily, sterilizing cycles reduce the amount of cleaning effort required to a regular-strength hand washing with steel wool, so it wasn't too bad.
My garden suffered from a lack of water while we traveled, so I declared the zucchini plant dead and pulled it up. It had provided us with 10-12 zucchinis already this season, so I accept its demise. I also harvested all the carrots, and they were put to delicious use in two meals this week. My tomatoes are thriving in the heat and look relatively healthy as the plant keeps turning out little red tomatoes. I've already harvested twice as many tomatoes from this one plant as I got off four plants last year, and there are so many green and light pink ones that are still growing. :) My beans are still attempting to grow, although a few of the plants are dead. Every now and again I spot another nice, fat bean growing, so I haven't pulled them up yet. The original plan was to plant more carrots and/or beets this summer, but we'll be moving before they're ready to be picked, so that probably won't be happening after all.
Olivia turned 3 on Sunday (the 3rd), so we celebrated on Monday night with Macaroni and Cheese followed by Green Cake with Chocolate. It was delicious. Oma and Opa gave her some new books which we read daily and James gave her a beanie baby chameleon that she calls Pasquale, in honor of Rapunzel's. She got a Barbie from Tom and Donna and a few more from us, so she's now in Barbie heaven (and the one from Tom and Donna gets a chance to rest occasionally, which is good, because it looked rather well worn after just one week at camp). Grandma and Grandpa came on Wednesday with a light-up cowgirl hat, a new bath toy, and bright green luggage that says "Going to Grandma's." The first thing Olivia packed in her new backpack was Pasquale. She has since added as many books as she can fit, all her Barbies, and a baby doll. She's been walking around the house pulling her suitcase and carrying her backpack for three days now, talking about how she's going on a "long trip." Sometimes the long trip is camping. :) She has one more book (from Aunt Jan) waiting for her at Wal-Mart, but her mother hasn't gotten around to picking it up yet.
And that's our update.
Pictures:
(I stole most of the camping ones from various people on Facebook.)
Edward, Gretchen, and Olivia out for a stroll:
Gretchen in her pink camping chair and William's blue chair:
Gretchen and Elijah play in the rocks:
Olivia posing for a picture, on the slack line with Daddy, sitting with Mommy after a soccer game, and playing in the sand with Oma:
Olivia's gift to Oma:
The half pink, half purple car we passed on the way home:
Apparently Alison visited the babies but didn't see us. Gretchen was not impressed:
Olivia plays cello with Uncle James:
Me in a saree. The other two girls are Danielle's sisters:
This is how the girls unpack:
Olivia got a suitcase and backpack for her birthday. She convinced Gretchen to go camping with her:
The girls:
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