Traveling mercies

Last week we drove east for the Schrock Christmas gathering. Ramont's parents and all his siblings and their families got together for a few days at sister Ravonn's home in Bluffton, Ohio. It was so good to be altogether again, and to see the six cousins (ages 1 to 10) playing together at all their different levels. I did not take a single photo while there (which just about drives me mad!), but hope to get some yet from the others (which I also forgot to do and also drives me mad).

You see, we were a bit preoccupied with vomit. This sweet little boy had thrown up several times before the picture was taken, and would at least 21 more times (or so it seemed) in the next two days. At first we thought it was car sickness, which he's had before, and then realized (with some relief!) that it must be some kind of sickness, which lasted two days. Anna then got it a few hours before we left for the return trip and also had it for two days. Now we're all done. Hallelujah. (Our car and house carpet still reminds us of what was).

But even with all the puke flying in the car, our kids were Amazing travelers! Jonathan especially is content to sit for hours, just humming, reading books, looking out the window, playing with Anna. Even Anna surprised us with her capacity to sit contentedly (dejectedly?) and look out the window until her little eyelids drooped into sleep. (Don't be too amazed; she definitely had her moments of "enough of this already").

We made the trip out in two days, and were kind of planning to do the same on the way home. But it went so well that we ended up driving all 15 hours in one stretch - even got to the point of taking Anna out of her car seat, mopping up the puke in the seat, changing her clothes and her diaper, and letting her play a bit with Jonathan while the car was still traveling. It really was not a bad trip!

I hope to post more about the actual time there once I can get ahold of some photos.