Trip to NC

So I couldn't post any status updates on facebook or blog about our pending trip to NC until it was done. We let our friend know that we could make a trip out in July knowing that her husband's 40th birthday was near and decided not to tell him so that we could make it for the surprise birthday party. And a surprise it was!
We had to wait until my 5p.m. zumba class on Friday night was over before leaving Evansville. Knowing that it was a 10 hour trip we decided to pull an all-nighter. The kids slept most of the way which was a blessing, especially for little Clara Bea. We arrived in Statesville around 3:45 a.m. Saturday morning and slept for a few hours at some friend's house. (Thank you Millers for letting us crash at your place and wake you up in the middle of the night!) They fed us breakfast and let us shower and caffeine-up so that it wouldn't appear that we were exhausted. We made it to the surprise party to wait it out with the others for the big "we gotcha" moment.
The rest of the week is a blur. I think it went by too fast and I of course didn't get to see and spend as much time with all our NC friends as we would have liked too. But that's the way it goes I have begun to learn. Some of our dear friends in Statesville threw Clara Bea a 1st birthday party. She has a special place in the hearts of some dear ladies there. I guess this will always be our connection to NC since she is our only daughter born there and will always be a "Carolina girl". We also got to spend two Sundays at our former church in NC. I even got to sing and play a little with the worship team which was a renewal to my soul. I didn't realize how badly I missed it and struggled with the thought of leaving it behind again. We played games, stayed up late, ate too much, drank too much, and had way too much fun. I also got to substitute teach some of my former classes at the YMCA. Special thanks to the Larson family and the Miller family for hosting us in your homes. We are so glad that the kids got to pick up right where they left off and hope that it will always be this way no matter how much times passes in between seeing each other again.
Our trip home was not as smooth as our trip there. We decided to leave in the early hours of the morning in order to get John home for a portion of his work day. We set off at 4a.m. and before we could even get to the interstate Clara Bea decided she was awake. I decided to run into a gas station and warm-up a bottle for her, thinking this would put her right back to sleep (something we often do at home). But I guess the warm milk on her stomach did not settle well and two hours later she threw up. We had to stop at a travel center, wash her off in a bathroom sink and clean up the car seat the best we could with wet wipes. I threw away her soiled clothes, we bought a can of air freshener and off we went again. After about another hour of driving John decided that we would stop for breakfast - he was having a hard time staying awake at the wheel - we had definitely not slept enough the several nights leading up to our departure. So after breakfast I decided that I would drive while Clara Bea and John took a nap. For some reason the trip home seemed twice as long but we finally arrived 11 hours later.
We unpacked our vehicle and even unpacked the bags but later in the afternoon a thunderstorm rolled into town. It got really dark, and the trees began to whip back and forth from the wind. The rain down poured but did not last too long. In the midst of the storm we lost power. After about an hour of fun with flashlights and candles the sun seemed to come back out but the power did not. John ended up grilling up some dinner for us, the kids took a bath in the dark and we all went to bed. Thus ended our very long day.
Now we are settling back into life here in Indiana. The chickens grew, the garden grew, the cat has disappeared again, and more snake skin has been found.