So long for 4 days

This morning all three kids were up bright and early. Oliver had a hard time falling asleep last night, and he got up one hour earlier than usual. We finished our packing, loaded up the van, and drove 25 minutes to a McDonald's near the hospital where Paul's mom had her monthly IVIG treatment this morning. The kids played in the playland for about 40 minutes until they arrived, and then Pop Pop and I moved their luggage into our van, rearranged car seats, and set up dvd players. After eating lunch, Oliver and I said goodbye and they left in our van. I came to the realization that Oliver associates hugging a sibling with an apology (something he has to do FAR too often) because when I told him to hug Nadia, he hugged her and said "Sorry" even though he hadn't done anything wrong. "Goodbye" or "I love you" or "I'll miss you" would have been more appropriate, ha ha! Oliver and I made a stop at the consignment shop. I brought in some things to sell and also used my store credit to buy some clothes for Nadia. Unfortunately Oliver fell asleep on the way home, and he woke up right when I pulled into the garage. I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but I was unsuccessful. So Oliver lost a grand total of 4 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours because his nap was only 15 minutes long instead of the usual 2 hours. He fell asleep very easily tonight, and hopefully he won't get up too early tomorrow.

Since Nadia and Ian weren't with us, I decided to walk farther than usual this afternoon. One of the playgrounds is 2.1 miles from our house, and the farthest I've gotten Nadia and Ian to walk thus far is 3 miles round trip. Oliver and I were gone for 3 hours and during that time we visited three different playgrounds. We definitely walked more than 4 miles total. My feet were very sore at the end mostly due to the fact I was wearing sandals, and my feet aren't used to them yet. If I had worn sneakers I would have fared better, but this helped break my feet in for our time in Florida! It was 85 degrees out when I was pushing the stroller. It has been MONTHS since I was warm enough to sweat. When we got home I had a call from Paul's mom and got to talk to Nadia and Ian. We hadn't eaten dinner yet, but they had already had pizza and were getting ready to go swimming at the hotel in Virginia. Pop Pop has everything planned out for their road trip there and back. He has all the hotel reservations plus has figured out where they are going to eat lunch and dinner every day!

He took into consideration things like which McDonald's or Chic Fil A had a play land and the fact that kids eat for free at Denny's on Tuesday nights. I have been praying for their safety. Most of the day I will be missing them. The one time of day when I feel a sense of relief is at meal times (since Ian isn't here). I haven't been separated for four days from Ian since I was in the hospital during my pregnancy with Oliver three years ago. Nadia took this road trip with Paul's parents 10 months ago. It's Ian's first road trip. They are hoping to arrive at Pop Pop's sister's house in northern Florida on Wednesday and spend two days with her before they pick us up at the airport on Friday. Altogether they will have the next 22 days with their grandparents, and then after spending four days at home they'll have 6 with my parents in Virginia. I hope and pray many precious memories are made over the next 4+ weeks!