Spontaneous roadtrip....

Well, Chuck's been gone 10 days...12 more to go...ugh! Yesterday morning I was talking to him at 8 in the morning and he told me he was going to be staying in Milwaukee for more than a day...waiting for his time to reset or for the appointment times to come...not sure what the original reason was....we were talking about it and I was questioning his times and everything...at the last minute I decided to take the kids out of school - it was about 12:00 noon when I got them...we packed for the night - I made a reservation at a hotel down there, with a pool -found a GREAT rate for 2 queen beds and an indoor pool, including breakfast....only 45 bucks! Anyway, we set out....I didn't call him until I was almost to Madison - it ALMOST backfired on me....he said "turn-around, go back....there won't be enough time, and I don't want you to spend the money"....I told him where I was and he said "well, since you're already this far...plus, he missed Alex's birthday, and Marco's is on Monday, the timing was good...we didn't get there until almost 8:00, but the pool was open until 10 and we had a pizza and a great time....the bad news is my camera batteries were exhausted...so I didn't get any fun pictures of Sam enjoying the pool..for the first time...he had a BLAST! All of us did - we sat in the hot tub, and relaxed...the last time we did something like this was labor day weekend 2008...Sam was TINY. We deserved it. This morning he called me after being back on the road for about an hour and thanked me for doing it....it was short, but it was nice to have a night off of the truck, with the kids and me, all together...we have to create these moments when we can, now! 12 more days he'll be home...it will be our anniversary and we have a night planned at Thayer's - 5 years ago married there...she's become a great friend...it's been 3 years since we've been back there. Looking forward to having Chuck all to myself, at least for a day!

After leaving us in South Milwaukee (we were 80 miles from Chicago), he had to head up to Green Bay for a pick up, and then back down to Chicago, then up to Pennsylvania....it was snowing off and on all day...for him and for us coming home. Nothing horrible, though. It was a long way for Sam....on the way there, the last 25 minutes or so he literally SCREAMED....it was awful to try and drive down there with that noise! Everyone was headed toward Chicago, and past Waukesha it was just insane! I've been to Chicago quite a few times driving - one time I got there at 7 in the morning...during rush hour....the tollway is INSANE! But with the wet roads and the darkness...I must say with Sam crying I thought I might lose it. But we found Chuck's exit where he was, and the hotel was 5 exits north of where he was...it was fine. I've driven in LOTS of states, with LOTS of adverse weather....been through the Rocky mountains in a blizzard with my friend, Sharon, and through Nebraska in tornadoes and torrential rain...the trip to Salt Lake City is 810 miles each way, and is filled with hazards! And many times I was traveling alone (or with my kitty in a carrier)...But with a van full of kids...that was a new one...

We got home today around 5:00 and Alex went to stay overnight with her friend, Allison, and Marco has his best friend, Sam, here....they're going to see the movie "The Lightening Thief"...tomorrow...he and Marco have read all of the books in the series 4 times, each....they're such nerds.....I'm glad Marco has a good friend who "gets" him! I told Marco he should be a meteorologist....all the cute nerds are meteorologists on tv! ;)

Well, I'm going to bed...Sam's asleep, and I'm drained from the 14 hours of driving in the last 2 days...have a good rest of the weekend!

Robin