During our trip to Olney, we made our usual rounds. We visited my grandparents, and probably reminded them how glad they are their children are all grown. We met Michelle and her girls for lunch and Jennifer brought Caroline and Reese. This was Reese’s first lunch date, at 12 days old. Then, we invaded Jennifer’s house and the kids ran until their legs would no longer hold them…or at least we thought.
While the kids played outside, I spent some time bugging Reese with the camera. I hope he’ll forgive me eventually. He is the sweetest baby and such a good boy! Jenn is doing a phenomenal job transitioning from a mom of one to a mom of two. I’m so proud of her, because I’ve been there and it isn’t easy.

Michelle and I took our tribe to Jill’s restaurant in Newton for dinner. (Hey Jill, you need a website, so I can link to it!) For as tired and hungry as they were, the kids all did really well. I only had to fish Alex out of the kitchen three times. Jill’s boys had just come in from their baseball games, so they were tired too…again, at least we thought!

For whatever reason, The Moms all agreed to let the kids go to Jill’s house and run around in her yard. We were too tired to put up a fight when the angry mob asked. The kids and I were staying all night with Jill and her family. We thought the kids would drop into bed, but we were very, very wrong. Well, not entirely. Meredith fell into a deep sleep quickly. When I checked on her, she was sleeping with one leg standing on the ground and the rest of her body on the bed. But, the boys were like hyenas until the bitter end. I guess that's why I DON'T HAVE ONE picture of Giuseppe and Frank! Are you kidding me?!

This morning we went back to Olney and met Caroline and Reese at the park, along with Maci and Marni. We had to stop for a hat on the way, and Alex was completely stunned to learn Olney does not have a mall. He honestly asked me, in a sympathetic voice if it was hard to grow up without a mall.

Because we assumed the Burgener Girls wanted to eat every meal with us for two days, we made them come to lunch with us. We ate at Hovey’s, and if you don’t know Olney, you don’t know Hovey’s, but trust me, it’s great. I ran into my mom’s good friend Jeni. I adore Jeni, probably because she’s one of the only women in the world who can out talk me. I haven’t seen her for years, so it was a complete treat to run into her.

Before we left town in a stupor of exhaustion, the kids and I stopped at Michelle’s and let everyone play one last time. Michelle’s yard is wooded and gorgeous and my kids are so impressed with her trees and lake (and trampoline), they’re beside themselves. We left to the sound of thunder and didn’t give it another thought. I should have.

The drive was a white knuckle experience. Between our van’s tendency to hydroplane and my lackluster vision, our drive home was one refrain shy of a Carrie Underwood song. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen lightening that close before and I know I don’t want to again. The rain came down in sheets and if it hadn’t been for the huge truck in front of me I wouldn’t have known where the road was. I was so thankful the kids were asleep. That way they didn’t see me drive through standing water like weather people always warn you not to do.

You’re might be wondering why I didn’t seek shelter, but if you’ve every driven the stretch of road I was on, you know my options were dilapidated trailers or community buildings that haven’t seen a visitor in years. So, my best option was to pray and keep driving. The trip normally takes me two hours and 45 minutes, so after nearly four hours, I was really glad to get home. The kids however, are already planning their trip back.