So much has happened in the last four (?) days, I had to come home and sleep it off before resuming!  Let me try to touch on the highlights.

After weathering the so-called storm and giant hail rocks at home, I returned to Avdi’s, where spring break had begun, and preps for the trip were underway.  E and Y had hand-created gorgeous furry costumes for the Furmeet they were attending. K was refurnishing his bedroom.  I did Shabbat preps, cleaning, and helping with trip preps where possible.  At one point, the preordered onion plants finally arrived and I quickly dug them into the garden as it got dark.  Down in PropWorld, cucumber seedlings were germinating.  Bluebells and redbud had started to bloom outside, and the kids, even Y and S (!), played outside in the warm weather.  Avdi and the kids packed up the car.

Sunday morning we all got up way before dawn and started out around 5:30 AM on our long day trip to hand off the kids to Stacey in Columbus, OH, via IL and IN on 70.  They’ll spend spring break, about a week, with her in PA.  It was a quiet, sleepy ride.  I was curious to see how my first time back in Ohio would affect me, with all the familiar landmarks, but I was OK.  The kids had a happy reunion with Mom at a convenient Cracker Barrel for lunch, then we transferred all the stuff to Stacey’s car and said goodbyes.  Then off Avdi and I went on our return trip.

The trip back was beautiful.  We got to talk, listen to music, and spooky podcasts.  Avdi decided to make a quick side trip to the Air Force Museum near Dayton just to see the Valkyrie in person, which we did.  It’s hard to make a short visit to the vast AFM (even vaster and upgraded since last time I was there), but we didn’t have time for more.  It’s definitely on our list of future kid field trips.  Then we resumed our journey across the flatlands and got to STL in the evening.  It was a long, tiring round trip, from before sunup to after sundown, but a successful one.  We both adjourned to our respective homes to collapse.

Side note: Stacey (and J&C) will soon be moving to Michigan, which will cut future trips almost in half, so she can be closer to the kids.  They will spend most of the summer with her (after attending local camps and activities).