For the first time in several years, we went on a little road trip for spring break. We headed to DesMoines and then up to Minneapolis and had many detours along the way.
The three detours that were the best were:
1. Watching Brian wrestling in a tournament..yes, Brian. He's 46...and did GREAT!
2. Seeing cousins we hadn't seen in MANY years!! Absolutely a perfect evening with the boys playing and the adults enjoying some awesome vino!
and
3. Getting to go visit Miranda's grave (I know it sounds like a strange thing to have as a favorite but I rarely get to visit her gravesite so when I do, it's a highlight!) I love talking about Miranda and each time we visit, Zach asks lots of questions and I get to tell him about her! We put some beautiful white flowers by her grave and blew her lots of kisses in Heaven.
But, the detours were not where the "bubble head" thing comes into play...that happened about 90 minutes after we left.
We took two vehicles because Brian is going back to Minneapolis for work after he goes to the NCAA wrestling championship tournament the rest of the week.
It was a good thing because we needed the car space with all the stuff we had to pack... :)
When you have a child with autism and cancer, you cannot just go someplace. It is NOT a simple process.
I packed up all of Braden's meds...and my meds....and that was nearly a suitcase in itself. We have to take everything (including a portable nebulizer in the event his asthma flares). There are a LOT of meds for the two of us and I remembered them all!! WAHOO!!
I packed swimsuits and swim shoes for the hotel pool, and the snow stuff like snowboots, snowpants, hats, gloves, and big coats...a blizzard was predicted. (love snow blizzards...yay!!)
Clothes for all of us...for a week...that was a LOT of clothes because Zach layers his shirts so that was two suitcases. :)
All of my workout stuff...sheesh...shoes, hair ties, my knee brace, my heart monitor watch, my light weights incase the hotel didn't have them....holy moly this healthy thing is a pain in the neck!!
All of Braden's food. He only eats about 10 things so I have to pack all of his food everytime we go someplace:
Cool Ranch Doritos, Chicken Nuggets (cooked and cut and put into bowls then inside freezer bags and into the cooler), 9 BIG tubs of yogurt (and then we had to buy two more), crackers, and a gallon of milk. It's so much easier to take it with you than to try to find it things at a grocery store...not everyone carries the ONE kind of yogurt Braden eats! :)
And lunch for Brian's tournament (so much better than the stuff at the concession stand)...bread, turkey, peanut butter, apples, crackers, Special K Chips, carrots, and water....and of course plates, silverware, napkins,
and even a trash bag!!
My cereal...girl's gotta be pampered a little! :)
The big camera to take pictures of Brian wrestling.
Laundry soap (we end up doing laundry all the time...somebody spills something and I like for the swimsuits to be clean before I pack them...I know...I'm a germ nut), fabric softener AND
dish soap and a brush to wash Braden's dishes each day. :)
Braden's backpack of toys...the electronics for the car ride and
his 3 Tigers, Tiger Hat, Color Blankie, and Penguin blankie. We can't go anywhere without those!!
And...Braden's daily cooler with his "gotta have it right now" food stash...in addition to the big cooler with the refrigerator of food inside for the rest of the trip.
Since we now have a cat, we asked one of my besties' daughters to come take care of him. I had everything out and ready to go for him.
And I vacuumed and dusted and cleaned the bathrooms before we left..it stresses me out to come home to a dirty house! :)
My car had been serviced, cleaned inside and out, and it was gassed and ready to roll!!
I packed up the flowers I had purchased back in May (I always get extras during the memorial day sale so I have them for our visits to Miranda's grave during the year).
I had gotten cash and organized my wallet so everything was in a neat row so I could easily find things quickly.
I had even transitioned my purse stuff into a backpack so it was easier to run around places and detour and not have a big purse to carry around all day long...I have to carry Braden's cooler and a purse takes up two hands...I need one to reign in the "B-Man" when he decides to wander! :)
I even had gone to the grocery store so when we got home we would have milk that hadn't expired and some other stuff to hold us over so I wouldn't have to go to the store until Monday when they boys go back to school.
And I did the laundry that was left over and started the dishwasher so I wouldn't have to do those two things when we got home either.
I had it ALL ready to go!! I was so proud of myself!!
We stopped about 90 minutes after leaving KC to grab some lunch and I reached into my backpack to get my wallet...
and THIS is where the "bubble head" thing comes in...
no.wallet.
CRAP!!
When I went to the grocery store the night before, I put the newly organized wallet into my purse and took my purse with me...
I hadn't transitioned it back into the backpack.
No cash,
No credit card,
No ID... (I began praying no one would card me for alcohol because I SERIOUSLY needed some, right then!!)
I texted my friend, Amy, who had her daughter run over to verify that I had indeed left my wallet in my purse. Thank goodness Amy is like a twin...she got it and we both had a GREAT BIG giggle via texting over it!! :)
The report came back that indeed, my wallet was in my purse.
Brian said it was better that it was there than lost! :) Smart ass!!
SO...I had to borrow money from Brian and he gave me a credit card for gas on the way home.
And after it took me 2.5 hours to put everything away in the house, I finally looked for my wallet. It was right there...just like I had left it when I went to the store.
AWESOME!! LOL!!
SO I'm a bubble head...the ONE thing I forgot was my wallet.
DUHHHH!!!!!!!
It was still a great detour....bubble head or no bubble head,
I put in some pics from some of our detours below...hope you all had a great spring break too!!
:)
