Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

We drove to Nashville, TN this past weekend to witness the perpetual vows of my friend since nursery school, the now Sr. Elinor. Her name is/was Elizabeth Anne (with an E like me and Anne Shirley) and her last name starts with a G, just like my maiden name. I still remember in 1st grade, our teacher Mrs. Czaplewski trying to find a way to differentiate us, as we both went by Liz (at the time), our middle names were exactly the same, and then she couldn't even stick a last name initial on the end- she had to finally go with Liz Go. and Liz Ga. :)

The ceremony was so beautiful (at least what I was able to see of it, when not taking Leo and Sammy to the back!) and what a wonderful example it was to see so many young, vibrant nuns in full habit- and to see how HAPPY they were! They all had these glowing smiles as they filed past after the sign of peace welcoming the new Sr.'s after their profession of vows. I mean, seriously! They all looked so happy. It made me want to be a better witness to my own vocation, though I realize it is more of a challenge to just bask in the radiant glow of motherhood when you constantly interrupted, say, by a screeching toddler, or the warm spread of a suspicious wet substance under your arm as you are holding your child (Both true examples from the vows ceremony itself). So it is a different kind of poise and grace that it takes to show the beauty of motherhood as opposed to sisterhood I suppose - perhaps a messier and more earthy type!? hee hee

I was able to talk to my friend, so I am grateful for that, but really, my kids were sleep deprived to the max. You see, the day before, we left at 5AM from Milwaukee, drove to Louisville KY and went to a really neat tour of the Louisville Slugger bat factory, then headed out again towards Nashville. At a rest stop along the way, the big back window of our KIA minivan decided to just slide right down into the door! It wouldn't go up! So we had a big hulabaloo trying to figure that out, and ended up just driving the rest of the way with the window all the way down on the highway. Leo, despite having been nursed and changed, was overtired and screamed most of the rest of the way. I sat in back between BB & J, leaning forward to comfort Leo and hold his hand. Sam got jealous and wanted to hold my other hand/arm so there I was stretched out and squashed in the back for a good hour and a half, with the hot Kentucky wind blowing at full blast! Finally, as we were close to Nashville, RObbie got next to a really loud semi truck, and the added noise had an instant soothing effect on Leo, and his eyes started to flutter closed and he stopped crying. Stay next to that truck! I whisper-yelled to RObbie! So the driver must have thought we were nuts but we hung out next to that semi until Leo was lulled to a nice deep sleep! We didn't get to our hotel until LATE that night, the kids were up until about 11 I'd say, and then we had an early wake up again the next morning. SO they were quite sleep deprived and their behavior was just AWFUL at the reception. We had to bow out of the personal tour early and get out of there, since they were being so terrible and Sam's diaper had fully leaked out. It turned out to be diarrhea. FUN FUN FUN.

That afternoon, we unsuccessfully tried to get the kids to nap at the hotel. That was a no-go so I took Barbara and Jimmy swimming at the hotel pool. A friend from the Mom's group I've been trying to join into happened to have been a novice in the same class as Sr. Elinor, but she since left and now is married with two young children and she also drove down from MKE for the vows. We met up with her family for a fun dinner at Cracker Barrel. After, I stayed at the hotel with the littles and Robbie took the bigs go-karting next door.

Well the next morning, Sunday, we went to Mass at a Church near the hotel and drove to Mammoth Caves National Park! I had my resevations about getting stuck down on a cave tour with a nursing baby and with all the diaper issues we'd had lately, but luckily they had a self guided tour that was only about 45 minutes long, and you only go about 1/2 mile into the cave. This was ideal for our family at present. It was amazing to feel how cool the air was as you approach the mouth of the cave, especially in contrast to the 100 degree KY humid heat! I really hadn't thought to bring any jackets or other coverings- and it was only 55 degrees down in the cave! Honestly, though, it felt GREAT and Sam didn't seem to mind, although I did have to carry him most of the way. RObbie wore Leo in our Baby Trekker and rubbed his legs ot keep him warm! The kids were thrilled to be inside a cave; it really was a neat experience!

From there we drove on towards home, stopping for a leisurely (but kind of yucky) dinner at a buffet place to let the kids relax and let the sun go down so they would sleep. I made the mistake of letting Barbara go up to the dessert buffet on her own, and she brought back a plate with I think a portion of nearly every type of dessert offered! Ha ha ha, oh well, it's not every day a kid gets to do that! Well our plan worked, as Sam & Leo promptly fell asleep and the older two were soon to follow. "Come on, Barbara, it's past our bedtime! We need to get some rest!" I heard Jimmy saying to Barbara around 9PM :) So we were able to drive the last 4 hour leg straight through with no stops.

Robbie had originally taken off M, T, and W this week as we were going to go camping, so it has been sooo nice to have him home to these few days as I try to recuperate from the trip and the lack of sleep, and all the housework! Emily and I took Barbara to see the "Beezus and Ramona" movie. It was cute! They combined a bunch of the books, and it was modernized, but it worked and we enjoyed it. Tomorrow A.M. is Leo's 4 month appointment ( a couple weeks overdue...) so we'll see how big he's gotten!!