Home.... and life is good

We left IL yesterday afternoon after a delicious and huge breakfast at the Palatine Inn, which is my all time favorite breakfast joint (sorry runners-up Original Pancake House (many locations) and Mickies Dairy Bar (Madison)). We took a leisurely drive up Hwy 12 to Fort Atkinson to visit Cousin Jen, Harman, and the boys Seeger, Liam, and Julian.

Bella spent about 1 minute sizing up the cousins (who are 4, 2.5, and 9mos) and decided yes, these will be excellent playmates. We saw very little of her in the ensuing 20 hours. Which left a good bit of time for us to hang out and play with Isaac, and generally relax in front of the fire and share stories of parenting and wild youths.. (youths in both senses of the word).

We hit the road around noon today for the final journey home - a mid-day 5 hour grueler. Isaac did spend 4 of it asleep (much needed catchup sleep) and one hour of it yelling "Get me OUT of this SEAT - it is CRAMPING MY STYLE". Bella was pretty good - she watched videos and got grumpier and grumpier... until by the time we hit the MN State Line, she was just moaning random songs of discomfort and woe.

Fortunately, when we got home (around 5:30), her best friend Jenny was ready to come play, and Randy and Jemae came by for (takeout) dinner too, so we re-integrated into the house and neighborhood, and Bella got 2+ hours to reacquaint herself with her best friend... All the kids were asleep by 9, and now I'm retelling the tales.

A few random details from the trip:
1) Minivan living is not for us: We'll rent these things when we need to roadtrip, but it needn't be a part of our life. Still, it WAS handy to be able to go with PapaBam and the whole family places.

2) In the final analysis, there was relaxing, but not kicking back: There was very little time for reading, puzzles, playing video games ("kicking back")... but there was time to lay back on the couch and stare at the ceiling and feel our bones a little ("relaxing").

3) I did stay unplugged from work: Yes, I checked messages, but I didn't RESPOND unless necessary, and I fully stayed out of things that I saw that someone else capable was copied on.

And now Isaac has woken up again and I must go settle him.