By hour 2 of the trip I looked over and asked mom if she was ever tempted to leave Shannon on someone else's doorstep when she was screaming her colicky little head off. I was joking...I guess. But she gave me a look like I was crazy and said in her best disapproving Texas accent, "Noowahhh." Then an hour or two after that she actually asked me, "Is there any way for us to fly Turner back by himself and we can drive back together?" Ha ha. I wasn't expecting that from her! But I thought it was a worthy suggestion.
We arrived at Bev's (John was in Egypt delivering shoes with his Missions Ministry) at 12:30am and when we pulled in, Turner was sleeping soundly in the backseat. As soon as the car stopped he woke up and realized that he was STILL tied down in the car seat. But as soon as Bev pulled him out of the car he was ALL smiles! It was the middle of the night and he was back to flashing his big toothless grin and giggling at everyone. We got settled in, set up the pack-n-play, watched Bev love on him for a minute and then we put him to bed. We crossed our fingers and put him down in the pack-n-play...he was sound asleep within seconds...fwewff!We got to stay up with Bev until about 2:30 in the morning and we couldn't pull ourselves away from her! We had to catch up, share stories about life as we know it in Sugar Land and her stories of her three boy's new lives in Abilene. Baseball. Spit up. Bicycles. Loss of sleep. Minivans. Williams Trace Baptist Church. Sugar Land Baptist Church. First Baptist Church of Abilene. Past. Present. Future. You name it, we talked about it! Finally we all crashed in our different bedrooms. Mom woke up with Turner and after I fed him I was able to sleep in until 9:15am. Ahhhhh, heaven! We sat around in our pajamas for hours, ate delicious breakfast casserole, drank coffee, ate strawberries and talked non-stop for another several hours.
Turner played on the floor and got to know the Moore's "daughter", Maddie, an 80 pound Yellow Labrador. Maddie would get up in Turner's face and he would go from smiles to cries
instantaneously. This happened about three or four times while I told Turner that he was fine and that Maddie was just like his big brother Gus. One lick to the hand and suddenly Turner figured it out. He watched Maddie for hours and laughed every time she even looked in his direction. Maddie loved giving Turner kisses and he loves receiving her big wet kisses too on his big bald head.To top off our time with Bev, we toured John's church in downtown Abilene before hitting the road.
We were "On the Road Again" as we all sing every time we get in the car to go on a family trip. I talked to Troy for about 2 minutes that day. Turner was of course unhappy being back in the car for the final 3 hours of the car ride. We had pulled into a Subway to feed Turner in the parking lot, grab a quick bite and head out again. I was pulling out of the parking lot while trying to tell Troy that I needed to get off the phone. I was frustrated, Turner was crying, and I was yelling at Troy telling him that I need to get off the phone to concentrate on my driving. In the midst of the chaos I backed my mom's car into the drive-through sign. Son of a $%&*#! You have to be kidding me! What kind of SUBWAY has a drive-through?! It's practically sacreligious! Skinny people eat at Subway and skinny people are motivated enough to get out of their cars and walk into the restaurant. Therefore, there is NO NEED for a drive-through, it shouldn't have been there in the first place!
Mom shared a story with me as we were driving across Texas that could trump any story I could tell you of this weekend. Her mom, Christine Condron (aka Mom-aw) took her and her sister Shirley on a train ride across the country to go home to Kentucky for a couple weeks. They rode the train for days, picking up and dropping off passengers with each stop. Every time they stopped in a new town they would refill the water cooler with fresh water. Apparently one town's water was not-so-fresh. My mom and her sister were sick as dogs for 24 hours with the domestic version of Montezuma's Revenge. So you can see why I can't beat an 1,100 mile train ride, with no air conditioning, two young kids running up and down the aisles, by herself, desperate to get home to see her family, and a 24-hour virus to boot.
We arrived Friday afternoon and went straight to Susan's house. We were welcomed by her 3 aunts, her dad, her dog Samson (who Turner adored) and a number of other family members. They made us feel like part of the family and they loved on Turner all weekend! What a relief that he was seen as a treat and not a burden! He crawled all over the house that Susan's dad built with his own two hands, played with Samson, and was in the arms of Susan's adorable Aunt Jane. She was smitten!
After a long day we headed back to the hotel and checked in for the night. The next morning Turner and I snoozed until 9:15am while mom sat there wondering when her two sleepy-heads were going to wake up! We got dressed and headed over to the house to help with the last minute details. I'm not sure how much help we were, but we got to observe the well-oiled machine that was Susan's mom and three sisters who had been baking and cooking in the kitchen for three days straight.
My mom went to the store with Aunt Jane, I fed Turner and I left to go with Susan to have her makeup done for the party. Her mom and aunts assured me that they had raised enough babies that they could handle Turner. So I left without giving it much thought, I knew he was in good hands!
We went back to the hotel to get ready for the party, Turner and mom were going to hang back and stay in for the evening.
I drove back to Susan's, with only a few wrong turns on the way (thanks to the British GPS lady). After going to the mall for makeup, going back to the hotel to feed Turner, and getting myself ready, I was almost an hour late. But what can you do? I arrived to the party in my boots and jean skirt (it was a Texas themed party) hoping to be the best Maid of Honor (I refuse to say Matron) that I could be!
We had appetizers, BBQ, and desserts galore! Then we opened presents and I was able to break the ice a little bit by playing my own version of The Newly Wed game. How well do Susan and Sky know each other? There were a few embarrassing moments, but it was a great way for all of the people who have know Susan since she was a baby to get to know her fiance Sky better. It was a lot of fun! I got to stay out baby-free until 12am and catch up with my friends. It was hard to leave but I know I will get to see them again in September for the wedding in Idaho.
I headed back to the hotel, after making an accidental 20-minute detour into a really creepy industrial district. I called Troy and talked to him for more than 5 minutes for the first time since we had left for Midland. Got back to the hotel and crashed for the night by 1am. We then got up at 5:30, fed Turner, and hit the road. Ouch!
The speed limit is 80 miles an hour for almost 100 miles on I-10 out of Sonoma into San Antonio. We put the pedal to the metal, stopped twice for me to feed Turner, God showed us favor, and we made it home by 2:30pm. Home sweet home! Turner and I both napped for 3 straight hours and woke up to spend some time as a family just before putting Turner back to bed for the night.
All in all...it was a great weekend. Turner is an absolutely incredible baby, he tolerated being drug across the whole of Texas and back in 3 short days. And I have an incredible, amazing, wonderful, loving, selfless mother who was willing to trek across the whole of Texas for me, and she STILL loved us both to pieces even after the trip was over.
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