Day 25

Boy, I could get used to this sleeping-in-a-bed thing!

My aunt and uncle came back over to the house this morning to spend a couple more hours with us before we had to leave. My uncle is the same age as my dad, so Aspen has decided that he’s another Grandpa and is as happy as a clam to have him here again. She’s also very snuggly with Linda, my cousin. This trip has been really good for Aspen; she’s incredibly shy, bordering on selective mutism, and never speaks to anyone she doesn’t know—and frequently not even people she does know. Of course, she’s always more comfortable around her siblings and parents, and every time we’ve stayed at someone’s house, she’s been able to relax more easily since we’re around all the time. Four weeks means a lot of new situations, and by the time we got here, she’s warming up more quickly than she did when we started our vacation.

Last night, Aspen was sitting on Linda’s lap, and Linda was asking her what her name was. “Is it Bob?” Each time Linda came up with a silly name, Aspen would shake her head no. Finally she ran off, and Linda thought that Aspen had just gone to play. She came back just a few minutes later, though. Aspen had looked around the house until she found a Magnadoodle. She wrote “Aspen Rose” on the screen, brought it back to Linda, and held it up for her to see. It may not be talking, but it’s definitely communication!

We let the kids play for a while, and after lunch we packed up to go. Hugs, kisses, almost-tearful, reluctant goodbyes, and we drove off. Levi kept yelling “We don’t hafta leave! We can stay here!” We got as far as the gas station a mile down the road when I got a call from Auntie Reen letting me know we’d forgotten the food she and Linda had packed for us. Since we were filing up, they hopped in the car and brought it to us. More hugs and kisses, and we left again. Fifteen minutes later, I realized I’d left my wedding ring there. The one and only time I’d taken it off this entire vacation, and it’s sitting in the guest room! I called, Linda found it, and we turned around. Two minutes later the phone rang again. My aunt and uncle were heading back to their house and were bringing me my ring, so we found a halfway spot and met them there. More hugs and kisses again, and then we were really on our way. Whew! Quite the production.

We drove from Phoenix to Snowflake, and the scenery (and how much it changed) was incredible. We started out with desert landscape and lots of saguaro cacti. Within an hour or so, we were still in the mountains but surrounded by tall pine trees, which covered hills and peaks as far as you could see. An hour after that, it was mostly flat, with a few rolling hills, spotted with short, round, scrubby brush trees and slashes of dry orangey-red washes.

Made it to my sister’s house around 4pm. She has 6 kids too, 3 girls & 3 boys. The oldest is only 9mos older than Andrew, and the youngest is a year younger than Lily. My kids love it here, adore their cousins, and the next 24 hours are going to be crazy-fun!

Total miles today: 177