Road trip!

It's official, we are taking a road trip this summer! I am so excited. I am one of those odd people who love the feel of the open road. I think it is because I am all messed up from moving so much as a kid, but that is a story for another day. (Just kidding Mom!) But seriously, all the pieces kind of fell together and so Aidan and I will be heading to Connecticut in July to visit Jakob and Kate for a week.

We are starting to prepare for the trip. Aidan loves maps (and we have an abundance in our family room) so tonight Aidan gave James a little lesson on where Jakob lives, how we will traverse the country and where mommy and daddy went on their honeymoon. We have checked out library books about Paul Revere and oceans and America, and he knows all about the Statue of Liberty now. Did I mention this is the first time Aidan will see the ocean???? I am so excited!

When I was 10 we moved from Fargo, ND to Sunbury, PA. My parents decided to make the trip to Pennsylvania memorable by taking the scenic route through the Upper Peninsula and along the shores of the Great Lakes. I am trying to decide if Aidan and I should do this too, or if we just take I-80 cross country. The possibility exists that we could have an amazing and fun time and that he would soak up the countryside and we would chat about lakes and mountains and Creation and the miles would fly by. Or he could revert to that horrible 4-year-old that lived here a few weeks ago and I could be muttering at him under my breath the whole trip, while he tubes out on movies. I am probably being too optimistic by romanticizing the idea of a road trip with a four-year-old, but I see every day how much potential he has as the world is opening up to him, and then I almost feel like I would be cheating him out of a life experience if we take the easy route. We will see....... anyone have any great ideas or inspiring stories about taking 4 year olds on 24 hour road trips?

James is planning on flying into Boston while we are out there, and that is another reason I am so excited. We honeymooned in Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and the coast of Maine seven years ago, and I am almost giddy to see some of those places again! I love the ocean, the history, the gardens, the buildings....... I just love the East Coast and I am looking forward to that first moment when Aidan dips his toes in the ocean and tasted the salt air.

Well, I didn't mean to ramble on so much about our trip. And I really did try to rein myself in and not use a million superlatives and exclamation points and italics to describe how excited I am. But sometimes I just can't help it.

Did I mention how absolutely, over-the-top excited I am for the trip?????