There's No Place Like Home

It's been a week and a half since I've posted, not because I'm at a loss for words but because my brain and body both feel like I'm still swirling in that tornado from The Wizard of Oz. My feet haven't touched ground yet even though we arrived home from the week-long trip after midnight early Monday morning.

Dorothy's trip to Oz has nothing on the one my family just took.

I remember her happily skipping down the yellow brick road with her dog Toto and a cute, light-weight basket. Then, I play the reel of my mother and me drooping and dragging along the concrete.

It seems everywhere my mother and I went, we each carried an "I-want-down-now" twin in one arm and dragged a suitcase in the other, all while acquiescing to the two-year-old who was screaming, "I want to hold your finger!" But through it all, God gave us joy (or a touch of insanity--not sure).

By day three of the trip, we would dissolve into delirious giggles each time we attempted to exit or enter the hotel...all while the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Man in the lobby just sat and stared at us trying to wrangle kids, luggage, and heavy non-ADA compliant doors (Chivalry is SO dead).

Your prayers did work, and I appreciate them more than you could know--the babies and Wyatt traveled well. The twins turned on their charmer smiles for everyone we met and didn't fulfill my fears of them screaming the duration of the flight or drive. Even Wyatt only cried the first night at bedtime, and after that (and 2 hotels later), he was fine with sleeping in whatever bed I put him in.

I could have done without the 1 1/2 hour wait at the border crossings, which turned a 6 1/2 hour trip to Grandma's into a 9 hour drive. I could have survived without the twins' refusal to take naps or formula made with anything but bottled water...and their insistence on waking up two hours earlier each morning than their usual time. And I would have definitely been happier if Atlanta's airport hadn't decided to close for several hours because of the weather, delaying our arrival home by many, many hours.

But, there are several good stories I'll tell my children over and over through the years.

Meeting their Grandma Della

Discovering that cities are as fun as life in the country because they have man hole covers and grates that you can walk on as well as escalators, revolving doors, and gingerbread cookies the size of your face!


Seeing a real butterfly conservatory with thousands of fluttering wings...which I'm sure diminished the "wow" factor of the small butterfly project this mommy undertook earlier in the summer.

Being reminded of God's promise to us as He put on a HUGE rainbow show for us at Niagara Falls. Each time the sun would peek out from behind a cloud, a single or double rainbow would appear at both waterfalls.


Eating too much deliciousness to even venture a trip on the scales yet, including a much-enjoyed trip to the Hershey's store for a chocolate shake and fudge as well as our We-must-really-have-lost-our-minds adventure in "exquisite dining"(with 3 kids and only one high chair) at the Rainbow Room atop the Crowne Plaza, all so we could experience the falls glow in patriotic red, white, and blue after dark.


By the end of my stay in Oz, I was not calmly clicking my heels with my eyes closed. I was mixing formula in the airport, grabbing the wizard by his lapel and shaking him while screaming, "GET ME HOME! I ONLY HAVE EIGHT DIAPERS LEFT!!!"

I'm not ready for another trip any time soon, but I know it's do-able. And being away from home for a week makes me even more thankful for my home and for my family.