5 on a Friday: THE SOLO ROAD TRIP

 While Ben was in CA with Cooper, Harry and Jack had an IL speech camp drop-off.

 I swear to you, I almost had Ben drive Harry’s car to the airport (5 am flight to CA— no way I was going to wake Minnie up for that trip or Harry to watch Minnie since he wakes up like an angry swamp monster every morning— this is the image I have because he wears a camouflage Comfy and sort of stutter walks) so the boys could drive his car to camp. But then I got my ish together and drove them the three hours.

 My main concern (besides being a little old lady on the highway) was the ride home with just Dorothy and Minnie and no real help (sorry Dorothy) handling Minnie’s car needs. She can be a bit of a screamer, is what I am saying. So! WE SPENT THE NIGHT, and it was … fine. 

Here are the highlights:

1. Seeing the boys in a real life DORM ROOM. So darling! Such a great preview of what is to come! (For me and for them)

2. Our favorite pizza in the world for dinner! The boys had a 4 pm drop off and then dinner on their own before the first camp session at 7pm. It was lovely to move them in and then be able to take them to dinner and to Walgreens for a quick pick up of stuff they forgot.

3. Girls’ night at a hotel. In retrospect, we should have snagged a couple of towels from the hotel pool and gone to an adorable water park between campus and the hotel because our pool was tiny, crowded, and not baby friendly. But! We snacked and watched a movie and did masks and read our books— very relaxing, and kids love hotel breakfasts, the yuckier the better. (Making waffles with a solo cup of goop— BEST EVER). Also! Minnie is not ready to sleep in a big girl bed, if her all-night bouncing between the couch bed (MY BED IS A COUCH! THE COUCH IS A BED!) and my bed is any indication.

4. Being there the next morning when Harry called to say HE FORGOT HIS COMPUTER. Um. Speech camp— a place where he planned to write and research a 10-minute persuasive speech for competition— was definitely a place where he would want his computer. And! I reminded him to put it in his back pack before we left, and he was all Ugh, I am busy right now chill out. I brought him Cooper’s iPad which I had on hand for car purposes for Minnie but did not really need since she also had a Kindle Fire, and I downloaded a book for Dorothy on my Kindle, figuring Minnie could play with Dorothy’s iPad, too, in a pinch. At least if Harry had an iPad, I figured, he could use campus library databases and have Google Docs. He texted a pic of his speech outline on a whiteboard with a computer in the foreground, so I assume he got one from the library **shrug** Still, it was nice to be there just in case because I am a helicopter at heart. ALL this stuff and NO COMPUTER:

5. Reminding myself that I can GO PLACES in a car like an adult. Do I think I want to drive Dorothy to downtown Chicago by myself for a dance thing next weekend? Nope. Could I drive her the same distance down an open highway? YES PLEASE. Baby steps is what I am saying here, but good ones.