there and back again

I took a couple days off around this weekend go to Illinois to visit my cousin and her family.

The trip started on Friday morning as I headed towards the turnpike and about 15 millions hours in the car.  Or something.  I underestimated the amount of tolls I would need to pay and reached a point in Indiana where I didn’t have enough cash to legally exit the turnpike.

Fortunately, there was a travel plaza with an ATM before the final exit and I cashed up – though I later realized a debit card would have worked in a pinch.

I got to Illinois a little ahead of schedule and my cousin’s kids were crazy excited to see me – Iike, literally jumping up and down excited.  Which was pretty cool. We played some games for a bit, then went out to eat and to a birthday/pool party for one of their friends.  It was a blast – lots of swimming and water slides – and we were all pretty tired when we headed back to their place.

Saturday morning was pretty low key, but we went out on the lake on their boat about 1:00.   We didn’t get off the lake until 8 that night and I spent almost all that time in the water.  The kids all had life jackets and the adults used pool noodles to float, but a noodle would have just slowed me down.  So, I treaded water and swam – and took very infrequent breaks to have a quick snack or get a drink of water before I was back in the water.  

A couple times I corralled a kid who drifted out too far or got freaked out – but I mostly stayed near the boats and let kids climb on me.  There were a lot of them.  🙂

The best game was when I would dive underwater and the kids would try to guess where I would surface.  They were always amazed when I slipped past the and surfaced behind them.   I managed to surprise them every time.

And not only did I “prune up”, I reached a point where I was starting to lose skin from my hands.  Crazy.

I think I impressed the adults that were on the flotilla of boats that gathered that day, but I was very tired by the time we were done.

I ended staying up late, though, because my cousin and her husband are such great conversationalists.  I sorry to end the night, but pretty much asleep on my feet.

Sunday was a lazy day of video games – much to the delight of the kids since I’m fluent in minecraft.  We went to my aunt and uncle’s for a early dinner and the kids and I had more adventures playing in the backyard.

There was a lot of good food, fun conversations, and origami over the weekend, but there were also some tears this morning when I left.  My cousin’s kids kinda melted down when they had to say goodbye.  It was sad, but really sweet too.  I got some sad text messages while in route and tried to be reassuring when I replied when I stopped for lunch.

I got slowed by traffic when I hit Ohio – of freaking course – but made it home safe.  I spent some quality time with the cat and then Jim took me out from dinner.

It was a good trip, but such a long drive solo.  It took me a little time to get my land-legs when I got home and I think I’ll sleep well tonight.