Well Memphis is another nine hours from Manhattan, KS. And my aunt Cheryl is halfway in Springfield, MO, so our quick long weekend turned into a full on road trip. While we're at it, let's invite Corinne and the five month old baby to come with to visit family! We'll have three adults in the car to test drive how he travels!
But wait, this was a wake up call that you never know how long you have and we REALLY need to get the baby to AZ to see my mother, mother in laws, father in laws, and grandmother. So let's then drive to Denver when we return to Manhattan and all fly out to Tucson!
Four day weekend=sixteen day road trip. And that's how we roll.
Turns out grand baby Lincoln is a trouper. He was great! Corinne sat in back with him and RIchard and I sat in front. She exclusively pumps so that got electronically handled in the car as well. All in all I was quite proud of how well we rode. Turns out you stop more often and the stops last longer, but other than that, it was no different than our other trips to Memphis.
It was lovely to stop and visit with Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Tom and see their long awaited "dream home" in the flesh. And to actually meet the "Meowsers from Missouri", well that was a dream come true:) My Aunt is a fabulous blogger type human for her four kitties.
RIchard drove pretty much the whole way. Going through the Ozarks at night was a little surreal, especially at this one gas station where the locals showed up at around midnight. We were, most assuredly, not in Kansas anymore. Local color abounded when the shirtless man drove up with his tattooed beauties for more beer and snacks. Any dentist could make a killing there if he were willing to barter.
Once in Memphis at about 2AM, we picked up our key and went to our temporary housing. We got to stay in a beautifully appointed townhouse owned by an Aunt of Richard's and decorated by his interior designer sister. It was lovely! Full house to ourselves for our entire Memphis section of the trip made all the difference for little LIncoln and Corinne. And the BBQ! Corinne got to see why everyone raves about Memphis BBQ. Daily. Every day. Sometimes twice a day. Wet, dry, pork, lamb, beef, we tried them all. We became connoisseurs of coleslaw. Beloveds of banana pudding. We took her to the Peabody, where "The Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody". We showed her the Mississippi River and were blessed to arrive with some unseasonably cool weather for our walk along the banks.
Then back to Manhattan for a quick visit with daddy again. We had left our Wrangler for Steven to drive, and took the incredibly economical Prius hybrid on our journey. Steven loved the Wrangler, and we loved the Prius! Then we headed to Denver to catch our flight to Tucson. Corinne got to visit with two of her three siblings and we got to babysit again while they went out. Turns out Gammy Lauren can put Lincoln to sleep with singing! We played music, then after two final rounds of The Beatles "Yellow Submarine" he zonked out for the night. Whew! Because the machinations and rocking, shushing that mommy and daddy do were actually not possible for me. I don't have the energy or stamina anymore for those kind of calisthetics.
We timed the bottles in the early morning for our flight so that he'd be sucking away while lifting off. We didn't need to worry, he was the best flyer ever! Not one little peep. He loved it:) Our one and a half hour flight was just fine. Gammy held him for lift off on the first flight, Corinne held him on the way home. Both ways were peaceful and easy. I keep referring to him as "Future World Traveler" from one of his little GAP outfits, and he's proving me right. Which is really good for an Army brat.
For our Tucson leg, I had used my trusty VRBO. Once again we had a three bedroom house to ourselves for the four day trip. From Starpass we were an easy 15 minutes to everyone we wanted to see. My first mother in law, Judy, had us all up for our first night, along with my mother. I should mention my first father in law, Bob, is a staunch Republican and my husband once sat next to Hilary Clinton at a political fundraiser. We had a lively conversation after dinner that most of the family walked away from, fearful of the sparkling that can occur from Bob if he gets cranked up far enough, but that didn't happen. It was fun to watch though!
We began the next day with swimming at the Starpass resort. Corinne's BFF forever, and mom of the adorable toddler Mason were staying there for an event. Whitney's husband's mom used to be my other daughter's Brownie troop leader, so I've known him since he was a tot. BFF Whitney's parents were there as well. Good to see everyone, even better to do it from a pool in July in Tucson!
Then we got our five generations pictures out of the way at my mom's. My sister came into town from Phoenix and picked up my grandmother on the way over. Grandma Balija is now 97 years old and travels with oxygen. She's sharp most of the time, although she sits quietly now more than ever before. She loved Lincoln but couldn't always seem to place whose baby he was. I'm glad we got there when we did. Great Aunt Naomi had a blast with him.
We try to do one big party for all my second husband's family. This was no exception, a huge summer barbecue out at my former sister in law's house. Her parents, my two nephews, my former in laws, my former husband's current wife and son, his current in laws. And my niece. And assorted other family friends. The irony is that my green chili chicken enchilada recipe is the one she serves, and someone finally converted her to beer from wine coolers. Whew!
Topped it all off with a final dinner for hubs #2, Howard, because he was working the day of the party and couldn't make it. So that became our reason for hitting favorite Mexican restaurant, Mosaic Cafe off Grant Road. Homemade tortillas. Yum. We had Steven's step mom join us there as well as my mom.
The thing that most touched me is that each and everyone of my former in laws wants to claim me, my daughter and my grand son. They like my husband Richard. It reminded me that ALL family is a function of created language. I'm blessed to have such a big one.
