The Family Visit, Part Duex

I will start with the loading of the van. It was about -10 outside and with the windchill it was around -30. Yuck-o! It was so cold that I had to stay in the van instead of helping load because without continuous gas it would not stay running. We finally get it all loaded and get on our way. It took a surprisingly short amount of time. I am driving and my BIL is sitting up front with me, my mom in the middle seat, and my sister and the babies in the back on the bench seat. My sister and mom keep telling me how cold it is. I am cold as well but thought it was because it was soooooo cold outside and we are on the interstate doing like 70 mph. It's all cold air coming in. After about an hour and a half, we stop and get gas so my mom and BIL can go in and see if they can find one of those little heaters that plug in the 12 volt outlet. No luck, they are sold out, but they do have an electric blanket that my BIL gets for my sister and the girls. We left around 1 am EST and somewhere around 8 am EST we stop to get breakfast. It is still -1 outside even though we drove south. Yikes! We stop at McDonald's so the girls can diaper changes, and everyone can have breakfast. We get back into the van and the air that is blowing out of the vents is still cold so we turn it off again. I am at this point a little unsure because it has been that cold at home before and I had heat. I wonder if the antifreeze is a little low. The motor is too hot to check right now, but I will check it later, in the meantime, we will just have to stay covered. So we make it to the hotel with no further problems. We get checked in and run to the store to pick up the few food items that we will need for the weekend. My attorney's office calls and lets me know what time I can go over. It is about an hour's drive from where we have to stay to visit my son. So my mom and I drive over there and it is not too bad. We were not overly cold, but it was much warmer down there. We get back to the hotel (after a bit of CVS shopping, who BTW did not care how many transactions we wanted to do with our lovely little coupon-just three). My sister and her husband wanted all of us to go out to eat for my sis's b-day. So off we went to eat dinner which was only a walk across the parking lot. The restaurant there is fabulous. If I could I would eat there every time I go down for a visit. It is a bit pricey for this broke mama though. Saturday morning we all load up in the van to go to the ball game and of course it was really cold again. No heat yet again, just blowing cold air. The game was a little hard to watch because of course neither of the girls wanted to watch the game and the three year old could not wait until the game was over and did not understand why she could not talk to her buddy and why he did not look at her. Finally the game ended and my son's father got one more dig in about the game later in the day, which I just ignored. We all headed back to the hotel and started working on lunch (pork roast with potatoes, carrots and onions, and apple salad to go with it.) My son and the three year old, which we will call drama girl, started playing by running like wild animals and jumping on beds and streaking through the rooms. We had the suite and a connecting room so in essence there were three rooms to run through. I know that lots of parents do not allow their children to jump on beds, but I have always allowed this for my son. To start with only when I was standing near the bed to prevent accidents, then as he got older I just told him to be careful and let him have fun. He has never weighed enough for me to care yet since our beds all had metal frames. Of course my sister does not allow drama girl to jump on beds ever. So she was a little panicked over the idea that drama girl was too close to the edge. We were all taking turns watching them though as my son can get rough because his dad is teaching him that all boys fight. So, my son is very rough and often hurts someone with his "practice fighting" without meaning to. I watched very closely to make sure we had no accidental injuries. Things went pretty well. We had to keep reminding children and "grown children" not to be so rought and to be quiet when the baby was sleeping. All in all a pretty good visit during the day. Going home was not so good. Drama girl did not understand the my son did not get to stay and so she cried. My son was very unhappy about leaving, and he cried most of the way back to his dad's. He sat in front with me and my mom sat in the middle and leaned up so she could reach his head and both of us made sure we had constant contact with him the whole way back to his dad's. We gave him lots of hugs and kisses and reminded him we would be back the next day to see him.

We run to walmart (I really don't like that store) after we go back to get the rest of the family at the hotel. I get antifreeze thinking that will help the heat situation. We head back to the hotel and watch a movie and everyone except me fell asleep before it was over.

The next morning I go and get my son so we can visit again. He is very happy to be able to see all of us again and can't wait to get back to the hotel. I notice that there is still no heat in the van even though I added antifreeze. At this point I think it must be a sensor or the thermostat. Drama girl is very much living up to her name on Sunday. Everything that my son has she wants and she cries when he doesn't hand it over. We tried telling her that she could have it when he was done or we would get another one, but only the one my son has will do. Again overall was a really good visit. No major catastrophies just minor issues. Then comes the time to leave. Drama girl keeps crying saying we can't pack up her stuff because she does not want to go home and leave her buddy. My son is getting more and more upset because drama girl keeps crying and my sister is getting really frustrated about trying to pack and load the van and keep her children out of things she is trying to pack up. We get the van fully loaded up and it is time for us to go out. My son starts crying again and does not want me to leave, drama girl starts crying because she does not want to leave. I just stand and hug him and hold him. I tell him to keep his chin up, I hope it will all be over soon. We just have to be tough and keep trying and we will get through this. I know that when one is eight, these words mean nothing. They really don't mean much to me, and I am an adult. I just plug along waiting for my day. And it will come.

We drive out to my son's current residence. I do not call it his home because it is not and never will be. He keeps sniffing and saying he is all right. I know better but I cannot fix this just yet, so I let him pull himself together. When we get there, drama girl has fallen asleep and is not happy about being awakened. She cries and will not give my son a hug because she thinks if she does not say good-bye, he does not have to go. We tell my son just to give a hug and tell her bye anyway and let her cry. I get out with my son and we go up towards the house and hug. I give lots of hugs and do not want to let go, especially when he is crying but I know that the longer I stay there hugging him, the harder it is for him. So, I let go and walk away. I get in my van, I roll down the window and wave and conk the horn as my son always says. I hear drama girl crying in the back and my sister sniffing and I want to cry. I just keep waving and put the van in reverse and back down the driveway. I put the van in drive, and with tears in my eyes, watching my son cry, I drive away.
Now aren't you glad you made it all the way to the end? What a sad ending there. I hope to have a happy tale soon. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!