The first part of the trip started on a Wednesday evening when I drove to my parents' house in the cities and spent the night there. Taylor slept in the car on the way down there and then had a very tough time going back to sleep for the night. Ugh. He was also up at about 5:30 in the morning and it took me about an hour to get him back to sleep, but then he didn't wake up until 8:30!!! I was SO grateful for that bit of extra sleep to compensate for the night before!
We took off from my parents' house around 10 am in two cars - my dad in his car, and Lily, Taylor, my mom and myself in our car. We stopped in Eau Claire for lunch and my sister was able to meet us for awhile - it was great to see her! I wish she could have hopped in the car with us for the weekend!
After lunch the kids both fell asleep and so we put the pedal to the metal and tried to get as far as we could before they'd wake up, get antsy and need a stop.
The next couple hours included a stop for gas, more driving, a stop for supper, a stop at Walmart, a little more driving and then finally reaching our hotel near Peru, IL. What a day! We made it.
Taylor was spent so my mom put him to bed while Lily and I swam in the hotel pool. Fun!
The next morning she and I swam again and it was fun to see how her swimming lessons are paying off. She is so much more comfortable in the water than she used to be and I love it.
We got dressed, packed up, and headed to my grandma Adele's nursing home. My sweet grandmother has dimentia and didn't know us. But it was so important to see her. Taylor got to meet her for the first time and that meant a lot to me. She certainly brightened up around my children and was watching them with interest.
We were able to take some pictures and spend some time in her presence. She napped a little and didn't contribute to the conversation very much, and what she did add was for the most part hard to understand. We sang a couple songs to her and I didn't get through that without crying. Some of my most vivid memories with my grandma are of us spending time at their cabin in Eagle River, WI and hearing her sing as she worked around the house or prepared a meal in the kitchen.
We left for lunch and then came back to see her before heading up to Wisconsin to April's house (that'll be the next recap!!!). And then my favorite moment of the day happened. I brought Taylor close to her and she looked him right in the face. And she said, "Sweetie, Grandma loves you." My jaw dropped and it brought tears to my eyes. I was so excited that she knew that she is Grandma and that this baby is her family. I'm so thankful for that moment.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this Dawn. My Grandma died almost 5 years ago and I still cry when I think about all the wonderful memories we had. There's nothing like Grandma love!
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