On December 14th, we packed up our bags, our car, and Grandpa's trailer. No Mothership for this trip! While we would have LOVED to travel in the Mothership, it doesn't do so well in the snowy and icy conditions we knew we'd eventually encounter (here's a link to our toboggan ride with the Mothership in 2011). Plus we wanted to return Grandpa's trailer to Maine (we had used to bring furniture down in August).
It was a long and arduous trip. All eight of us squished into the Yukon. As our boys have grown into tall men, our vehicle has apparently shrunk in size. Every day we'd drive as far as we could, and at some point in the evening I'd start researching hotels where we could stay. Must have wifi (for the Captain to check work as we arrived and before leaving in the morning), free breakfast, be cheap, and have large rooms:) And we'd still squeeze, but oh, so thankful to be out of the car!
Mei Mei had done so well on our car ride south in August, and we were hoping she'd do fine on this trip, too. Not so. This girl has lungs! (She might still be mildly hard of hearing, too. I'm serious!) A bag of lollipops was much appreciated (by all), as were various electronic devices. (Our car dvd player broke many years ago.) Sometimes nothing could help, except stopping and getting out of the car. Which doesn't make for a quick trip up.
We also hit heavy traffic in Connecticut and ended up sitting in traffic for hours.
Such fun.
When in the Mothership traffic jams and other delays aren't so bad, but when you are stuck in a car with an unhappy toddler you become allergic to traveling pretty quick ;-)
Finally on Thursday morning we made it to New Hampshire, and stopped at Mr G's Tire. Originally our plan had been to drive to Grandma and Grandpa's, and get new winter tires in their town, but when the tire shop there couldn't get what we needed, Mr G came to our rescue. We pulled in, filled their entire waiting room, and left with great tires and smiles:)
(If you live in New England, we highly recommend Mr G's Tire! Also, we wanted to get our car undercoated, but The Rust Stop was completely booked. Make sure to make an appointment! We'll stop again some other time ;-)
Thursday night we got to our camp in Maine. No pictures - it was dark, and we were all so tired. It rained all day, and we brought in our luggage (even furniture from trailer!), and so much mud. No snow in New England.
But Friday morning sun brought out happy peeps! It was our teens' 17th birthday, and Little Miss' 9th Adoption Day (we didn't celebrate the Gotcha Day this year since we were on the road).
The biggest gift was being home. (In 2015 so far we had only spent about a month at our camp.)
I think the kids had a fantastic day. The five oldest and the Captain met friends for pizza later in the day, and our friends TR and K had bought tickets for them all to see the new Star Wars. (Thank you so much!!!!) They had all enjoyed the movie very much, and tried not to discuss it too much in front of mama, who stayed home with Miss Mei Mei.
Mei Mei and Mama had baked a cake at home, so the little party came over to have cake after the movie.
And before Christmas, we had one more birthday to celebrate. Candles on pizza for mama (and no cooking!!)
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Olemme vieläkin toipumassa automatkasta pohjoiseen. Lähdimme Floridasta maanantaina 14.12, and pääsimme perille Maineen torstai-illalla. Kaksivuotiaamme ei matkustanut yhtä helposti kuin elokuussa eteläänpäin, ja olimme kaikki ihan valmiita automatkan päättymiseen. Matkasimme autolla vetäen Kapteenin isän peräkärryä (palautimme sen heille), ja kun meitä on nyt kahdeksan, ja yli puolella pitkät jalat, oli matka kyllä yhtä tuskaa. Yövyimme hotelleissa matkan varrella.
Olimme niin onnellisia kun pääsimme perille. Seuraavana päivänä oli nelosten synttärit, täyttivät jo 17 vuotta! Ja Pikkuneidin yhdeksäs adoptiopäivä oli samana päivänä (emme juhlineet Pikkuneidin Gotcha-päivää tänä vuonna, matkustaessa oli liian vaikeaa). Isoin lahja oli olla omassa kodissa kaikki yhdessä. Ja illalla Kapteeni ja viisi vanhinta lasta treffasivat ystävämme, jotka antoivat lapsille lahjaksi elokuvaliput Tähtien sota-elokuvaan! He kävivät pizzalla myös, ja tulivat illalla kotiin kakulle. Ihana päivä.
Vielä ennen joulua ehdimme juhlia Sennien synttäreitä, minäkin sain puhaltaa kynttilät pizzan päältä:)
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