Saturday, April 10, 2010

The First Leg

Our Spring Break was lovely.
It was what we needed.
A break from the cold.
Some soaking up of sun...
and some soaking up of family and friends.
A lot happened. 

Here is the first leg of it.
Some crazy person thought it would be a good idea to drive for two straight days in the car with four boys, then fly the very next morning out of LAX to Maui. 


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Being in the car that long sadly drove Little Bear to drink!
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He has still not completely recovered, but it now suffering from
post car-seat traumatic stress disorder which involves screaming and wrestling me every time I try to put him in his car seat.

Movies and the DS helped the other boys cope quite well.

Our first day was extremely long and Hottie Husband and I thought we might go completely mad if we heard the Lady Antebellum song one more time-

It's a quarter after one and I'm all alone and I neeeeeeed you noooowwwww...

So, we turned over to talk radio and listened to a little Dr. Laura. She said something I won't forget to one of her callers. The caller was talking about taking kids to a relatives house who could be verbally abusive and asking if she should go to maintain peace in the family. Dr. Laura said-

Sometimes we think that keeping the peace and avoiding confrontation is the good and right thing to do. But, it is not. Rather, standing between evil and the innocent is what is right.

Standing between evil and the innocent...  

That night we slept in a Best Western in the tiny dot on the map of Fillmore, Utah. We hadn't brought a crib, thinking it would be silly to pay to fly it to Maui and back. The hotel had one there and I had forgotten about this one traveling night where we might need one. My mom has one at her house. 

This not so great Best Western didn't have one. Little Bear lay in bed with us and did not know what we were doing. He is accustomed to sleeping in his own crib. I nursed him, I walked him around the room. It was 1am. I was tired. I got back into bed with him and finally said to him-

Daddy go night, night. Mommy go night, night. Little Bear go night night. 

He understood. He put his  head down on the bed and his little bottom in the air. Then popped back up and gave Hottie Husband a hundred kisses goodnight. Then me. Then put his head down and then more and more kisses. We were tired, but laughing at this sweet boy of ours. None of us got much sleep.

When he woke up, I took him into the bathroom with me so HH could sleep a little longer. I put him in the tub while I showered. I couldn't adjust the shower head at all. The water shot straight at his face. I stood in front of the water the whole time so he would not get pummeled.

Then suddenly the water turned scalding hot. Normally, I would have moved out of the way and turned the water off or adjusted the shower head. But I couldn't. The baby was there.

Instead I had to stand there, water scalding my head, protecting my child, while I groped for the faucet to turn it off. And do you know what came to my mind?

Standing between evil and the innocent... 

That's what it feels like. You get battered with the heat of it so that the innocent feel none of it. You do it because you are stronger and can take it. You do it because of love.



We made it back on the road, coffee in hand.
I know you are wondering if I got what I had been dreaming about...


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I didn't really let him eat it. 


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I

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We stopped in Las Vegas.
It was delicious.
And do you know another thing I love about In-N-Out.
This-

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I wonder how much longer those will be on their products.

We made it in time to play for a little bit before our flight the next morning. 
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We made it in time to love up on Great-Grandma Betty.


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We made it in time to see my dad and his sweet wife Lu before they headed home to South Dakota.
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And the next morning we were off to Maui.


9 comments:

Farmgirl Paints said...

Great post Brigetta. I'm not a fan of Dr. Laura much because she can be so brutally mean! But she does have some good things to say...that quote was great.

Sounds like an exhausting trip and you haven't even left yet! I love to read your writing. You standing in the hot water to protect your baby...just precious. Him giving you all those kisses and not understanding what was going on....priceless. I remember those days very clearly.

Can't wait to hear more:)

Unknown said...

Fillmore, Utah . . . oh, dear! I have cousins who live there and my dad was born nearby in Beaver (maybe you passed through?) Let's just say, I am not surprised that the not-so-great hotel didn't have a crib.

Christina said...

What a fabulous story! We road trip every year for our spring break, too! It is a real family adventure.

This is my first time visiting and I am now your newest follower. So nice to meet you!

Joybird said...

Hey Brigetta, I totally understand the In-N-Out craving. When I chose my college one of my rules was that I won't live anywhere that forces me to cross a state line to get to the beach. Now if I think about moving out of state, I research the area to see if they have In-N-Out and Trader Joes. Can't wait to hear more.
love,
Joy

a new beginning said...

welcome home my friend! i missed you!

Kimberly Job said...

Looks like fun! That's cool about In-n-Out. I'll have to check my wrappers next time I go.

MamaMonki said...

I love that quote from Dr. Laura. I'm not a fan of hers, but that one is certainly a keeper. Even better than the quote though is your illustration of it in the shower. I'm going to have to share with my small group. We're reading a book called "Grace Based Parenting" by Dr. Tim Kimmel right now and that quote fits perfectly with the chapter we just finished which was called "The Freedom to be Vulnerable"

Can't wait to read and see the rest of your trip!

Christina said...

I loved reading this. The quote and the shower story...so good. And the image of your sweet baby so confused by his sleeping arrangement, but finally getting it, and then covering you with kisses. This helped me tonight. Thank you!

Beth said...

YUMMY! I love in-n-out. Thanks goodness they are in az!(where I live) I love taking out-of-towners there to eat. It's like watching a baby eat cake for the first time!