OUR INDY TRIP - BACK HOME FOR SPRING BREAK

We traveled back home to Indiana last week for our Spring Break. Our kids spring break vacation was a week before the Spring Break for kiddo's in Indy. When there, we got to introduce Kross to everyone that had yet to see/meet him. That includes his great grandma Dixie. Dixie is Cathy's mom (my Step-Moms Mom) and the closest thing to a grandma I've ever had. This photo above was taken the moment Grandma Dixie got to lay eyes on Kross for the first time. He was in a crabby mood because we'd been in a car for almost 10 hours at that point but I still love the photo. Cathy is the one passing him off to her Mom. I will always treasure this shot. This is a perfect example of the power of photography. This image "moves" me.
Speaking of moving me, the next image below does the same. It's of my Dad - laying on the floor one evening talking to Kross...

Grandma Debbie (Brent's Mom) got to experience Kross's crabbiness one afternoon as well. I love this picture of her though and wanted to share it. It also helps show that Indy wasn't all that cold while we were in town. The first 3 or 4 days we were there, we had temps in the 60's and 70's. However, the final two days we were in town, it did drop back down into the 30's - reminding us of why we love the Florida weather so much.

Our drive to Indy from Naples was pretty pleasant. Other than having a hard time finding a hotel to stay overnight in once we got half way there, all went smoothly. We eventually did find a Marriott in Atlanta that had some open space but that wasn't until 4am Saturday morning. We were beat by that point and would have slept in cardboard boxes had we not found a place soon. We got up a few hours later - around 11am - showered - and hit the road again. We reached my Dad's house by 8pm Saturday night. (about 24 hours after we left Florida).
Our drive from Indy back to Naples was a different story. Need I use the words...helldacious, horrific, & torture to describe the trip home? It was all that and then some. Before we ever left my Dad's house, poor Kenidi vomited all over his kitchen. We contemplated ever leaving that evening because we didn't want her getting sick in the car. (especially because we ordered a new vehicle several weeks ago and it came in thus allowing us to pick it up when back in Indiana) I didn't want Kenidi getting sick in the new ride nor did I want her to have to ride 18 hours while feeling ill. Luckily though, we believe she must have eaten something bad because after she threw up and got it off her stomach, she was right back to her normal self. We said our goodbyes "until next time's" and took off from my Dads around 7:30pm Friday night. I promised my Dad I wouldn't cry that time only because he is scheduled to come see me in Florida at the beginning of May. Needless to say, once I got in the car the tears rolled. Yes, I lied. :) Good thing I was able to hide in the backseat as we pulled away. Thank God also for illegally tinted windows on the new vehicle - "Florida dark" as Brent calls it. About 2 hours into our trip, the great state of Kentucky welcomed us with 2.5 hours of bumper to bumper traffic. By the time we made it thru that rat trap, I was ready to kill someone. It wasn't a pretty site. I kept trying to get Brennen to roll his window down and ask one of the semi-drivers beside us when the traffic jam was going to end because I knew they'd know from their buddies up ahead who had already gone thru it. However, he wouldn't do it. (even though he watched the car in front of us ask the semi truck next to us) I was in the third row backseat with Kross and not near a window. However, at that point, I was ready to jump out the nearest window and bail. Brent told me that the "devil" came out in me. He was right. Again, soooooo not pretty. Being car sick from that third row seat doesn't help a girl out either.
We got thru the traffic jam in Kentucky, made it to Atlanta and were on the hunt for our hotel. Unfortunately, the navigation in the new car took us to the wrong address which added an extra hour onto our trip. The devil was about to rear its ugly head again. Ending up in the hood - in downtown Atlanta - at 6am - is not my idea of a good time. It was a bad, bad, night. I had to pray for God to cleanse my soul afterward. I was doing a whole lot of repenting in the shower that next morning. LOL!
We made it to our hotel by 7:30am and we were paranoid that the kids wouldn't sleep once we got in the room. We pulled those hotel room shades though and you couldn't tell whether it was day or night. Believe it or not, by the grace of God, both Kross and Kenidi as well as Brennen slept from 7:30am all the way until noon when I got up to get my shower. I was shocked. Guess it goes to show how tired all of us were. We cleaned up and left the hotel with a late checkout at 1pm that afternoon. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We made it home by 10pm Saturday night. It was so great to step out of the car and feel those warm Florida temps blow across my face again.
I felt bad for Brent the whole way though because he drove like this...90% of the trip...


Some of you don't know that Brent has recently had to undergo eye surgery on both of his eyes. He had a torn retina in one eye and when he went to have it repaired, they discovered that his other eye was already detaching itself from the retina as well. He has lost most of the vision in his left eye so we are praying that the vision returns over time. The eye doctors have said it could take up to 6 months before he'll know how much vision he will get back. It's been horrible for him. We went thru the mountains in Tennessee and it started pouring down raining. He had such a hard time. Not only that but he kept scaring the ba-jeebers out of Brennen and I because his peripheral vision is so jacked up right now. I kept asking him to let me drive but of course he couldn't relinquish control to his wife (a.k.a Mario Andretti). Truth is...he didn't want to be present when I set a new track record. #ChickenLittle


Kenidi always does great on long car rides which is really surprising. She has had an extremely tough week because of all the up-rooting and change during our time away. However, the car ride is always a pleasant one for the most part with Kenidi Grace. She loves to watch her videos or color while riding. We recently got her an ipad after speaking with her teacher and learning that she uses them at school in tech lab and loves them. We downloaded the same apps that she uses at school and let me just tell ya...it was the best money ever spent. She loves it. With her special needs, we've found a ton of great apps that really help her. I'm on the hunt for some sign language apps now so that our whole family can learn some additional signs for her. We feel like the more sign language she knows, the more it might help her speak verbally in the long run - as backwards as that sounds. Kenidi rode like this pretty much the whole way...Miss long legs...


That girl loves her DVD head sets. She'd wear them around the house if we'd let her. Hee hee!

And Kross...well he was a perfect angel on the drive there and back as well. I couldn't have been more pleased with him. I was so worried that he would scream the entire way because he hates his car seat so much. However, most of the trip he spent like this...

Goodness I love those little toes and those fat little fingers. Unfortunately Indy gave him a going away present. We just got back from the pediatrician where we found out he has a 100.1 fever and an ear infection. Dang you Indiana weather!!!

And speaking of Indiana weather, check out how much Brennen loves the cold, gray, dreary look of Indy. And that thing he is wearing...it's called a COAT. (a.k.a - Cold Outside Again Today) I don't even own a coat anymore because I got rid of all mine last Fall beings that we never use them down here anymore. Just looking at the environment outside Brennen's window in that above picture reminds me of how much we really do live in paradise here in Naples. There just isn't any comparison. Living here and living in Indy is literally like night and day. Thank goodness we have awesome friends and family to make our trips back and forth to Indiana worth it. :)
This Coca-Cola sign below is in my Dad's garage. I walk by it a 100 times each time that I come and go while at his house. Each time I see it, I smile. Reason being...that little note on the corner of the sign...the one that reads "I love you Dad..." - well I wrote that years ago.

I honestly can't remember when it was that I wrote that on the sign but I know it was forever and a day ago. The crazy thing is that my Dad has left it there ever since. Never erasing it. Makes me smile. It's amazing how the little things of "home" always make you feel so good inside. Although the trip from Indy back to Naples was a nightmare and I now have two sick kiddo's because of the weather (yes Kenidi has a deep chest cold and runny nose now too), it was all worth the time that I got to spend with my family and my friends. I soooooo love you guys!

XOXO, Angie