At 4:00am tomorrow morning, the Vance family will pile sleepily into Vinnie the red Dodge Caravan and cruise to a distant land known as Atlantic Canada.
Chrissy has carefully calculated out departure time in such a way as to have us miss the worst of the big-city traffic and leave some time to actually see our family upon arrival. I think her plan also enables us to maintain some semblance of our normal sleep schedule, so I'm very thankful for her work.
We had a great day today. I was able to play guitar at church, which I love to do. Chrissy was able to pack the kids up and get them there without any hitches (aside from a few minutes on the waiting list at church for the nursery).
We returned home and had some great times before lunch: Katie and Justin were upstairs. Now, Justin, who is Katie's boyfriend for those who may be unfamiliar, has an incredible effect on my children. They love him deeply, and catching sight of him basically magnifies their energy levels. For about ten minutes, my children literally ran in circles around the house, giggling like crazy, especially Janna who had this look of unadulterated glee on her face! Katie, Justin, and I just watched in amazement as they continued their circular celebration until lunchtime.
Chrissy and I had a chance to relax for a couple of hours while the kids were asleep. Usually we have a good nap during this time, but Chrissy wisely felt that if we wanted to get to sleep early tonight, we should forego the nap. Was it ever hard! We both needed a tea just to keep ourselves awake. It was nice to spend some quiet time together though.
When the kids woke up, it was my job to occupy them while Chrissy packed. I decided to take them to my school so that they could throw some balls around the gym. They absolutely loved this! Jesse was determined to throw a basketball into the net, but as hard as he tried, he could barely get the ball a foot above his head. When I casually threw a three pointer (after about thirty other such casual attempts), he looked at me with deep admiration. I knew that at that moment, he believed that I was the strongest person on the planet. I'll probably cherish that moment forever, or at least for another few years until he realizes how funny that whole thought is!
Janna, on the other hand, just ran around the gym screaming happily and giving me big hugs around my leg. What a beautiful kid!
We ended our little tour by going to the supermarket. I had walked them across the parking lot, placed them into the cart, found our items, and got into line to pay before I realized that I had forgotten my wallet in the car. That was a pretty low point, and Jesse could simply not understand why we were leaving our stuff, going back to the van, and then returning! He was a little irate by the time we had finally paid for our stuff, but I can't really blame him; I was a little irate too!
We have since eaten, put the kids to bed, packed and loaded the van, washed the dog, and I am now looking forward to relaxing for an hour before the big trip. I probably won't be writing tomorrow, but I'll definitely keep the updates coming once we've settled.
Until next time!
See you soon!
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