Road Warriors

This weekend we headed back to my hometown of Lemmon, SD, for my Grandma’s 95th birthday party (see last week’s TMT post!) Our family’s adventures in traveling are never dull and this trip was no exception. In spite of a sinus infection that kept me feeling good & crappy the whole week prior, and against my better judgment, we loaded the Fusion, packed up the kids, the dog, the luggage, and the McNuggets to go, and headed down that lonesome stretch of I-94 West.

While the trip out there was fairly uneventful, it does seem that Bam Bam would prefer that Grandma & Grandpa lived about one hour closer to us. He was a perfect angel for 4 ½ hours, then screamed bloody murder for the remaining 60 minutes of our trip. Despite watching “Elmo’s Potty Time” (funniest Sesame Street DVD EVER, btw – there is a segment about what little kids call their poop, and a catchy little ditty about toilet paper – AWESOME!!!) on an alternating loop with his sisters’ choice, Alvin & the Chipmunks The Squeakuel, he was exhausted beyond the point of consolation by the time we hit German Country. After throwing the worlds’ best car-seat-induced tantrum for a solid hour we arrived at G & G’s a full 3 hours after his usual bedtime, where he proceeded to bawl until the instant he saw my Dad… then we got a huge smile, and “Paaappaaaa!” and all was well. Until we actually tried to put him to bed. Our crew usually sleeps in Seth’s old room in my parent’s basement – a large room with a double bed, a single bed, and a crib – and all of us were ready to crash when we hit the pillow. But Bam Bam had other ideas as his refusal to sleep in the car carried over into the wee hours. Every time we laid him in the crib: “Mama. Mama? Mama!” or his father’s favorite, “ELMO!”, or the one that made his sister giggle sleepily, “Hi puppy!”. Mommy tried rocking him. Daddy subbed in. Mommy tried again, no go. 4th time was the charm, Daddy wins.

The next day arrived very early with a 6am wakeup call from two children who were super-anxious to go out with Papa and help with chores. They “helped” drive the 4-wheeler, pick apples, pet horses, and feed the butcher steers. It was a whopping 40 degrees out, so the two little rosy-cheeked moppets were good & ready for a big long nap.



Cruising the farm with Papa on the 4-wheeler, great fun!



Playing with Rudie, Queen of the Barnyard (she used to live with us until we moved to Fargo.  No one is sure how she is still alive, let alone ruling the roost.  Their dog who is easily 12x her size is terrified of her.)



The cutest little apple picker!  My favorite time of year is when we finally get to eat those yummy sour apples!

The big party was that afternoon. My Grandma looked fantastic and seemed to really enjoy visiting with all the well-wishers that came to her party. We chatted with friends and relatives. We had cake & ice cream. We had MORE cake & ice cream. I got to hang out with some of my cousins whom I hadn’t seen in 5 years. We took tons of pictures. We were ridiculously well-behaved, for us anyway (well, except for that end of the table, you know who you are…) We took over the local hotel lounge to do some serious catching up. And let’s be honest, some serious beer drinking too. We teased Peg for turning 50, we teased Shad for turning 21, we teased everyone in-between because, well, that’s how we roll. In short, we had a blast!

The kids with their Great-Grandma Blenda at her 95th birthday party

3 Generations

The Christman cousins - Jeff, Reed, Shanna, Shad, Carlie, Peg & Grandma.
"Not pictured": Mike, James, Jaci, Lindsey, & Seth

And all too soon, it was time to turn around and get back in the blasted car that seems to shrink by the minute, and head back east. By the time we left, I had a migraine to beat all hell, and the children were in no mood to travel. The Princess passed out about 5 miles outside of town (shortly after Mommy had to ask Daddy to stop the car so she could toss her cookies….ugh…all the while Bam Bam is laughing at her as he’s watching through the window. Mean baby.) but Bam Bam, true to form, wasn’t about to snooze. The rest of the 5 ½ hour trip was a blur of screaming, cranky children, me drifting in and out of consciousness, and frequent sound bites from The Hubs reminding me that “we are NEVER doing this again!” While I want to agree with him, I know the next time I’m feeling homesick, I’ll be loading up the Fusion again, guzzling some 5-hour energy with a Dr. Pepper chaser, and bracing myself for the inevitable sleepless night(s) ahead while away from home… because that’s also how we roll.