Over the River and Through the Woods...

To grandmother's house we go!

  Well, we tried to.  Months of planning, days of packing, 20 minutes trying to get everyone into the truck and settled and it won't start.  Two hours and two replaced batteries later, and we were on the road.

We prefer not to travel at Christmas but my mom asked us to drive up to see her in Iowa since this was the first Christmas in almost 20 years that she hasn't had to work.  My brother and sister-in-law made plans to drive down with their kids so D and I put together a road trip plan that would take us through half a dozen states over two weeks for a real vacation.
  The first leg of the trip was the hardest- we drove overnight from our house in Tucson to D's dad and stepmom's house in Kansas.  Thanks to movies for the kids and podcasts for us, the time passed quickly and we arrived in Wichita in time to meet D's mother for lunch

  The kids played in the play place while we visited and then we drove out to the prairie home- D and I's home away from home.

 While D rested up from the long drive

Sky and Fire built their annual gingerbread house with Grandma C

This year it was a gingerbread Starbucks store!

In the morning, after some snuggles with Grandma

We had a little bit of Christmas

These two elves brought D his giant present

Fire was over the moon to get the stormtrooper alarm clock he asked for

Earth loved the busy board that Grandpa R made for him

We spent the rest of day reading books

and playing with new toys

While we love all our family, there is something extra welcoming about this house and the kids simply love being there.  It was a great first stop and we left feeling rested and ready to move on to my mom's house