(Apologies for the photo-heavy post, but you don't come here for my prose, I know. These are a selection from our trip album -- click here to see the whole thing.)
We drove straight from Logan to New Hampshire. We were lucky to see Doug's whole family, including his nephews. Here's Finn playing pirates with cousin Collin.
We visited with Courtney again, catching up over pizza. (The boys ate pizza and Dunkin' Donuts for about four days straight.)
Then Doug joined Jon for a trip to Foxborough to see the Packers take on the Patriots. Calvin and Finn got their first taste of candlepin bowling, thanks to Jenn. Why isn't there candlepin bowling out here?!
Then it was off to the Berkshires for the countdown to Christmas. The boys were happy to have tiny trees of their own to decorate.
Megan was an absolute rock star. She helped get the house ready for the chaos that comes with our family of four, and kept us supplied with food, drinks, and fun. For the birthday party, she debuted the musical cake stand -- every home needs one!
The GPS system was a good surprise. Never need a map again! I think Grandma's due for a road trip of her own, don't you?
Christmas Eve the kids set out cookies and baby carrots, and in the morning they marveled at the full mantel -- 10 stockings! 10! -- and found the gold-wrapped presents from Santa.
Please excuse me here while I indulge in some parental pride. Calvin hasn't been terribly engaged in gift-giving in the past, but this year both boys got into it. And enjoyed it. They were so proud of their gifts to each other, and so eager to see the other one open his present. They chose well. Finn found a stuffed Phineas and Perry for Calvin, and Calvin got the cool dragon boat Finn has been obsessed with for months.
I'm still amazed dinner actually got on the table. I'll leave it at that, though I should note it was super tasty.
I learned a few things on this visit too. I never knew my mom wanted some Chucks of her own.
Here's a shot of two classics:
You know when you think you've found the perfect gift for someone, but then you have doubts, and you know it's silly to be unsure but you're nervous anyway? I needn't have worried. (Thanks, everyone, for making this one possible!)
As darkness fell Christmas Day, it became clear our travel plans the next day were in jeopardy. Snow flurries grew into a nor'easter, and our flight was canceled before we had finishing opening gifts. We rescheduled for a flight the following day, and hit the road Sunday morning hoping to beat the flakes to Boston. Safely back at Jon and Jenn's, who generously took us in again, the kids enjoyed the snow while we watched the entire air traffic system collapse.
Our flight Monday was canceled. It took hours to get through to the airline, and the earliest they could get us home was the following Monday. There were a few seats left for flights out of New England midweek, but they were starting at $1,500 a piece. We searched from Maine to Washington, D.C., and as far west as Chicago and Columbus. And then we decided to drive the whole thing. Google estimated 50 hours from Boston to Sunnyvale. That proved about right.
It was freezing. And snowy. We stayed on I-80, heading straight west. Some parts were pretty. This was near where we watched a gust of wind blow a car clear off the road in front of us.
Our boys were incredible on this trip. They each had one book and just one spare outfit for three days in the car. Aside from bathroom breaks, we only stopped for dinners, one night in a hotel, and a fruitless search for snow chains. And they were happy nearly the entire time. I don't know how they did it. Calvin asked to check our progress on Google maps, and marveled at the vastness of the plains. He said he'd like to do another road trip like this one again, only with stops to do fun things. Fair enough.
As for the grownups, the drive wasn't too bad. Until we headed straight into another snow storm. The view gradually turned into this:
And then it began to look like this:
Exhaustion caught up with us just as the snow really began to come down. Doug did most of the driving; I couldn't sleep after the wind-blown car incident. It was so blindingly dark and snowy the night we drove through Utah, Finn got out for a pit stop by the side of the road and heard the lapping water. The Great Salt Lake was a few feet away; we couldn't even see it.
It was a tremendous relief to get home, where the boys were excited to discover a few more treats from Santa.
We took a few days to catch up on sleep, and then the boxes of Christmas gifts began arriving in the mail. And we've been playing ever since.
