Sweet Home Indiana: Part 1

After visiting Indiana at the beginning of the summer, I made my mind up that I was going to get up there one more time before school started. My sister Kylee was due at the end of July and I wanted to see the baby. As the summer quickly passed, I was running out of time. I may have mentioned before how IMPOSSIBLY expensive it is to fly out of Tallahassee. If I haven't mentioned it, let me prove I am not exaggerating by saying that it would cost almost $1,400 for X and I to fly round trip to Indy. Flying out of (relatively) nearby airports isn't much better. I knew that if I wanted to go back for one more trip, I was going to have to make the drive. It took nearly a month for me to talk Dust into it. He didn't want me to make the jaunt with Beanie alone but obviously couldn't take time off work. Also, I didn't tell my parents because I knew they would insist on buying a plane ticket or coming to get me themselves. They'd never let me do it! Because I knew that there was a chance of chickening out, I only told my older sister Kimberly. I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up if I decided I just couldn't do it.

So, I decided to leave on Sunday, July 27, at 4 AM.  If I left this early, Bean would sleep through a large portion of the drive, traffic would be non-existent and I'd be in Indiana before dinner time. The Saturday before my departure, I was a NERVOUS WRECK and nearly talked myself out of it. I decided that I would just make myself pack and get everything ready. If I could just get myself in the car, I would be fine. Dustin and I spent the day organizing suitcases, packing juice and snacks, mapping out my route, and even picking up a book on CD for me to make the drive more bearable. Before I knew it, it was time for bed and all that was left to do was to set my alarm.

I ended up waking around 3:15 and couldn't get back to sleep. I knew if I didn't get moving, I wouldn't go so I got up and got busy. Dustin of course got up to help me and before I knew it, the baby was asleep in his carseat and Dustin was kissing me goodbye. I pulled out of our driveway at 4:08 AM. My goal was to make it home by 6 PM as it is a 12 hour drive. I had to account for at least a few meltdowns :)

The drive went surprisingly well. I was astonished at how easy it was. Bean slept until 9:30 so by the time he was awake, we were nearly half way home. I kept Dustin, Kimberly and Bryan in the loop as we progressed. We only had to pull over twice for gas and potty time and Xavier was AMAZING! He sat in the back and watched Mickey Mouse on the iPad. He took a nap from 1-3 and woke up just in time for the final 45 minutes of the drive.

Road Trip Baby!

At roughly 3:45, we met my older sister, her husband and her kiddos on Kylee's cul-de-sac in Sullivan. We made it in less than 12 hours!!When we pulled up to Kylee and Evan's barn office, Neil parked the van in front of their door to distract them from seeing me. I parked farther back and walked up to the barn with Beanie in tow. I caught Kylee's reaction on video!

After a tearful reunion, we hung out just long enough for Xavier to get his wiggles out.

He and Bryar took off right where they left off!

Evan was just as shocked as Ky!

 Next we headed to my parents house, about 20 minutes away! When we pulled in, Ky went in first to throw them off and Kimberly and I put Bean at their door and had him knock. When my dad saw Bean through the glass, he was shocked! He opened the door and squeezed the life out of him! Then he quietly took him into my mom who was just as shocked! They were both thrilled to see us! After a quick reunion, I told them that I had driven myself and they were not pleased...but just please enough :)

We spent that evening cooking out at Kimberly's house where the babies all played together and my Aunt Lani and her girls stopped by to see us.

so pregnant!

After hanging out there, Xavier and I went back to Kylee and Evan's to spend the night. The boys rode in the little gator while Ky and I rode in the big one. Xavier and B played so well together. We had lots of fun but called it a night early because we were EXHAUSTED!

We were so happy to be home!