Stuff

Last Wednesday the kiddos dressed up for AWANA. They were supposed to go as "something God created." (I told them that meant they didn't even need to dress up, but they weren't going for it.) Karis went as a dinosaur; Zeke dressed in a tiger costume, size 18-24 month, which I bought at a garage sale for Malachi but I can't seem to get Zekers to stop wearing around; and Rachel went as the sky (with stars and clouds). We don't do Halloween (trick-or-treating, etc.), so the chance to dress up was fun for them. Actually, the dressing-up part was nothing out of the ordinary, since they practically live in costumes most days; it was the going out in public part that was different!

Monday, I drove to Wooster to visit my grandma, who has recently had hip surgery. We've been wanting to make the trip for quite a while, and it just hasn't worked out to go on any weekend since this summer. So, my mom and I took the three younger munchkins in the rental car, which we had until Tuesday. I took the picture at the right at a gas station in Dayton, where we met Mom, because I just had to document the occasion. Between the falling gas prices, and going from a van to a little rental car, we filled up (and made the whole trip, both ways, on one tank) for less than $20 - woo hoo!

It was a lot of time in the car for the kiddos; and a nursing home isn't the easiest place to keep 3 kids for long; but the weather was pretty warm, and outside the home was a pretty little pond, where they got to feed the ducks. Malachi was too little to really feed them, but I have rarely seen him so excited. He just stood there and squealed at them.







I'm glad we went, but it was hard seeing Grandma so much more frail and disoriented - certainly not the Grandma I knew in my childhood, and very different even than the Grandma from a year or 2 ago. It's made me think a lot the past few days about life and death and aging. This life is but a breath . . .

About halfway back home, we stopped at the Polaris Mall in Columbus for a much-needed break from the confinement of the car. The kiddos absolutely LOVED the zoo animal play area, and have been begging to go back ever since. I tried explaining to them that it's about a 2-hour drive, to no avail. Malachi even made a new friend, who made him feel all grown up.






One cool thing about the trip was getting to watch the entire sunrise and sunset, both from the car. And even though I'm not sure how much they'll remember, I was glad they got to spend a few hours with their great-grandma and great-aunt. There is no such thing as a perfect family, since all of them are made up of imperfect people. But I'm thankful for both families that God has seen fit to bless us with, and thankful that my kids have the opportunity to spend time with grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.