Weekend Up North

We've returned from our first of a few summer weekends up north at Jason's parent's house. It is a big bonus to have in-laws who live on a gorgeous lake, own a boat, and love to cook for you and take care of your kids. They're not perfect by any means, but it's a great (free) summer getaway, and we do take advantage.

Because we estimate that Jemma must weigh at least 19.59385 pounds by now, we went ahead and turned her carseat around for the drive up on Thursday night. With the DVD player in place blasting The Sound of Music to the backseat while we all ate our Olga's wraps, we hit the road. We were optimistic; we thought, sure, Jemma's hated the car ride before, but we haven't been on a long ride since April and plus, we turned her carseat around!!!! She can see the movie, now! What's not to love?

Apparently, Jemma does not care which direction she is facing in the car. After about 15 minutes, she hates it. Period. So, Jemma cried for the three hours going up, and then she cried for the three hours going down. We gave her all manner of food, drinks, suckers (total mess), toys, songs, blankets, books . . . no luck. I am seriously considering slipping her the tiniest bit of Benadryl on our next trip (when I am solo) and see if we can't calm down just a LITTLE bit for the car rides.

However, once we were there, we had a great time. Fitting the Van Deven family in the house with us was a little tricky (PLG: Carter and Clara slept in their pack and plays in the bathroom and a closet, respectively), but the kids did great and we had fun. We even escaped to Aaron Smith's wedding for a few hours on Saturday morning while Jason's parents watched all the kids (!). It was lovely: outside on the bay, brunch reception, Jason playing a little Beatles on the guitar, time with some long-lost college acquaintances and friends. The rest of the time, the kids loved playing at the waterfront park, playing with tennis balls in the tennis court, going out on the boat, eating cookies in the park, and eating popsicles on the deck. We decided to make it a tradition to rent a house together each summer . . . once our youngest child is 3 or 4 years old. After just two days together, with Jason's parents doing all the cooking, we were exhausted. We're going to save the week-long adventures for a few more years!