On my own...

 Troy spent the majority of last week in Nebraska for his annual conference.  I braved it alone at home for 2 days and then headed off to Conroe for a couple of days to visit my sister and Grandma.  I wasn't looking forward to the long road trip on my own but felt like Troy being gone was a great excuse to go visit. 
The drive there was pretty uneventful.  I spent Thursday morning schooling, feeding, and packing the van to the max.  After picking up Jonas and Lachlan, feeding Poppy in the parking lot, and situating the DVD players, we were off.  We made it to Navasota before Poppy insisted on a snack.  Luckily, we were able to stop at a park so the boys could run around.  Poppy cried from Nav to Grandma's house but we pushed on.  They all slept well that night.
Friday morning, Grandma and I took them all to the park.  They had a great time running, sliding, climbing.
Reef desperately wants to master the monkey bars.  He made it to ring 5!

 Poppy hung out in the stroller and "chatted" with Grandma.

 This guy loved chasing his brothers and copying every word that comes out of their mouth.  He definitely thinks he's one of the big boys.

 Jonas is definitely in the great middle child phase where he enjoys playing with either brother, and they both want him to play "their" game.

 Friday evening, my dad came over for dinner.  It was his first time to meet Poppy.  The picture is bad, but I think she liked him!

 After dinner, all 4 boys headed outside for some more playtime.  It amazes me that they were entertained all weekend by some open space, a piece of rope, 4 hula hoops, and a traffic cone.

 Of course at bedtime, my dad was the chosen reader.

 And then they didn't want Grandma to be left out.

 Before we left Saturday, we attempted a picture of Grandma with all the great grands.  Jacob was in the bath during this one but we did get one with him too on Gma's camera.

The drive home was terrible!  The crying from Poppy started in only Brenham and continued pretty much until La Grange.  Lachlan also started crying about 30 minutes from La Grange too.  He threw up as we pulled into a parking spot at the park.  So, there I was...alone...one child hungry...one covered in vomit...and 2 angry that their movie went off.  So not fun!  I got L cleaned up and Poppy fed, and we were off again.  She cried a lot more since she was so tired of the car and Lachlan threw up again about 10 minutes from home!  Poor guy and his car sickness!  Thankfully, Troy was at home waiting with towels and napkins to clean up.  He had also gotten dinner ready and cleaned the whole house!

Even though the drive was terrible, I am really glad we made the trip.  It was good to see the family (sorry we missed you, Gigi), and be with them for the first time since Grandpa died.  It's also good for the kids to get away from our WAY TOO MUCH STUFF and enjoy some simpler times and toys.  I am thankful, though, that this is the last time I will make that trip with such a small baby.  And next time benadryl will be on board!