WICHITA WEEKEND: HIGHS & LOWS

Last week we made a fairly last minute call to head to Wichita.  My siblings were all going to be in town (which really means that Ellen and Luke were heading up since the other siblings both live there), and I didn't want to miss out on the fun.  Plus - it meant getting to celebrate one nephew turning three and meeting my newest nephew for the first time!  I'll get right down to the highs and lows.

Low:  Unfortunately, this trip started out with the worst car ride we have ever had.  It almost deserved its own blog post, but I decided that I could not bear to re-live it enough for that.  We left home at 6 pm.  We arrived in Wichita at about 1:15 am.  We erroneously thought our children would sleep for much of the journey.  Instead, they screamed.  W and V spent about 4 hours taking turns crying.

Low:  The car ride was so bad that at one point I was also crying.  This is when the sun set on our happiness.

Low:  With everybody crying, John decided blowing past tolls was an acceptable solution to our need to get to Wichita quickly.  We haven't seen the bills yet, but we will pay them when they come.  #dowhatyouvegottado

High:  The car trip did not last forever, though during longs moments of it, I was convinced it was going to.  We made it to Wichita, and everyone lived to tell the tale.

High:  On Friday, we got to lay low and hang with family we don't get to see nearly often enough.  This included taking a hard hat tour of the church campus my youngest sister works at that is getting ready to open.

We also got to enjoy Mom and Wes's amazing backyard which delighted our children throughout the visit.  And I fed my flower picture addiction.

Everybody loves Papa, but Violet especially loves Papa.  She doesn't miss a chance to cuddle him.

High:  We got to meet Miles!  He is the precious son of my brother and SIL, and he was an instant hit with my kids.

High:  We got to go to Max's (Miles' big bro) birthday party!





(I sure do love my mom and sisters.)

High:  Sammy the cat.  He is no joke.



High:  John stayed back with the twins while they napped during the party, which was an excellent call, because it made them much more fun the rest of the afternoon.

High:  Backyard sprinkler fun.




V really loved carrying the bat around, and these pictures totally crack me up.  Surprisingly, W took this like a champ.

It was really nice in the shade.



High:  Having babies around that were not my responsibility.  I love my darling nephews and the fact that I was not in charge of feeding them.

High:  Sibling/spouse game night.  We laughed a lot.  I heart these people.



High:  Seeing Wes's raised garden beds that he mostly finished while we were there.  John got to help with moving some dirt.




High:  Having all the cousins together.



Low:  Having to leave everyone behind.  I wish we lived closer for moments like this.



High:  Our ride home was dramatically better than our ride there.  I'm hopeful that we have figured out some tricks and adjusted our expectations.  Still - this is one of the sweetest sights there is while driving - a sleeping child.

Now I'm doing laundry and getting ready for our next adventure!