Saturday June 12th, we loaded up the 26ft Penske - after a 3 hour wait for the Penske guys to show up to open the Penske store to give us the truck, kids in tow and all - I realized that this was God's grace to me saying "see, you don't want to be on a 2 day car ride with these guys." LOL!). So that got done around 1:30 thanks to an AMAZING crew, we finished cleaning most of the house, grabbed a shower before Nate, myself and Cal had to head to the airport at 3:30 to pick up his dad (who was driving the truck) and drop off Cal and I to catch a 7:10 flight to MN. Our neighbors the Lowe's kept Sophie and Chason while we packed the truck and volunteered to keep them while we did the airport run to Baltimore - what a blessing that was Helen, thank you! So rather than spend more time in the car, they got to run in the sprinklers and play outside with their buddies - perfect way to spend their last day in the hood :).
Cal did great on the flights (we had a layover in ATL), not perfect, but anything was better than 20+ hours in the car with him! Our friends Becky & Emily were at the airport to greet us and Cal and I stayed with them until Nate, his dad and the kids got in on Monday evening.
Back at home (in MD), Nate and his dad did any last minute cleaning & picking up needed and crashed in the empty house with only bedding & the kids to pack up the next day. Phil Dufrin, our good friend & classmate who lived across the street, insisted on making a big breakfast for everyone before they hit the road at 6:30am, so they all went over there around 5:30am and had the works with the Dufrins and the Nelsons - classmates from WA state who were leaving that day too and crashed at the Dufrins (their 5 kids and the Dufrin's 6!). After a wonderful breakfast and goodbyes, they were off!
Dad was in the Penske and Nate in the car with the kids, manned with lot's of snacks and DVD's. That first leg was about 12 or 13 hours (I think) and they stayed near Columbus, OH. The second day they made it home in really good time - not without many melt downs, especially Chason who only slept a total of 15 minutes that 1st leg! All the while I was enjoying getting reacquainted with my girlfriends Becky & Emily and enjoying their very peaceful home with Calvin - napping when he napped ... ahhh, it had been a while, and re-cooping from the crazy whirlwind we had just experienced the past 2 weeks.
Really good to be back to our home of 7 yrs, it's a lot smaller than the house in MD, but it truly is home. Our renters were WONDERFUL! The house was in the same condition we left it, if not better. The boxes are unpacked and pictures are hung - took a couple weeks, but it happened :). The kids are still adjusting to their new sleeping arrangements (Chason is in a big boy bed now and he and Sophie share a room ... Cal is in with us and is not sleeping through the night, again! Though he is officially cutting teeth, so I think that may be a lot of it), but have fallen right back into place here with the neighbors & neighborhood dogs, making sure to pay everyone visits when we are outback on the patio.
Thanks everyone for your prayers in regards to our journey back home. God is so kind and gracious. How precious each one of you are to us, near or far, whether we've seen you last week or it's been years, you are all God's good gifts to us!
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