Making the rounds

Some people see a holiday and see downtime and relaxation. Others see an extended holiday like an invitation to cram in as much as possible.

As the wife of a man who works sports for a living, I view free Saturdays a bit differently than the 9 to 5, Monday through Friday folks. So, I decided it would be a good idea to traipse all over Missouri to see my family on Saturday after accomplishing a few chores at home first.

We saw grandma in the nursing home along with my parents and grandma's sisters. Then we headed up the road to meet a new cousins new baby girl, Isabel. Stopped by to see grandpa and headed back to St. Joe for dinner with my parents.

Then I thought we really should head over to Gene's stomping grounds as well. We went to church Sunday and headed up I-70 to Marshall, Mo., Sunday afternoon. I drove (and sinned) all the way there. For those of you who don't know, failure to obey the posted speed limit is a SIN (boo!)

Knowing our boys are 4 and 6 and hate being in the car, some might call us insane. But, if we don't spend time with our families, how will our kids convince everyone that we are related to that we totally suck at parenting? We stopped on the way home and had dinner at Taco Bueno. Our oldest was pleasant. Jared was sleepy and insisted on sitting on my lap, but he sat down and ate. Knowing once we arrived at home, it would be quick showers and bed, I was glad to spend the positive time with the boys.

Most of the weekend, Gene and I took turns being on the edge of crazy as they fought, showed incredibly rude versions of their sweet selves, out and out defied any request we made and terrorized everyone at the dinner table.