Yesterday we tested some of our plans for our big trip to Hilton Head. We needed to go to Chicago to take our birds to the person who will be caring for them while we’re gone. (Thank you, Maria!) Since we were going to be in the Chicago area, I thought it would be fun to visit a few stores there that we don’t have here.
We planned to leave at 9 a.m., and we assigned the seats in the van the way we hope to have them for our trip. We packed children and birds and supplies in tightly, and then began our journey.
The trip went surprisingly well. The children enjoyed the audio book that Michael played for them, and the miles slipped by quite pleasantly.
We arrived at our birdie destination, and spent a little while there getting bird cages set up and visiting our friends.
After saying goodbye to everyone, feathered and not, we made our way to our next stop. I’ve heard about Trader Joe’s for a long time but have never visited one, so I was eager to see what wonders filled the store. It was so interesting to browse around and exclaim over the items that we don’t have ready access to here in Bloomington. I chose some treats and we left the store with goodies in hand. The cashier was so friendly and kind, and she pointed out the snack bin for the children to stop by on the way out of the store, and she also handed Luke a bag of balloons for the children to enjoy later. She would have been happy to give each child a helium-filled balloon, but Michael quickly squashed that idea, filled with visions of balloons floating all around the van while he was driving.
The next stop was an Apple Store. We all enjoyed seeing the beautiful computers, and we dreamed of the luxury of owning such technology.
Finally we were ready to head home. We made a quick stop at a gas station, and then headed south again. We were home by 5 pm, and quite happy to be done with our day of travel.
We learned several things on our trip. First, Levi travels very well. Not fussy at all, which is wonderful.
Second, Lilly did quite well, though she was a bit noisier than Levi. Still, I think we can find ways to entertain her and make the time go by more quickly for her.
Third, I was again impressed with how helpful the older children are. They help with younger siblings, they pass things from seat to seat as needed, they fetch dropped items from the floor, and are in general a pleasure to have along.
Finally, I learned that it’s a lot of fun to have “unlimited texting” on our cell phone plan. Laura was able to ask questions from the back seat without having to holler over the road noise and the audio book. We could text back and forth quite nicely, and it was amusing to both of us.
Having done our test drive, I am now ready to forge ahead with the final plans for our trip. We will leave Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the house is strangely silent without the birds here.