To Grandma's House We Go (Part 2)

This is the second part of the blog so read this after the first part (duh)...

The drive was certainly no less than an hour and a half, and about 45 minutes into it Hubby was really, really regretting eating those slices of bacon. "I need a restroom, and I need it NOW." I looked out my window and saw nothing but dead grass for miles and miles. Occasionally some cows would pop into view, but seriously it was only desert farmland that surrounded us.

Hubby was getting sweatier and sweatier, and he had the A/C blasted on extra high. The boys were huddled under their blankets in the backseat wondering why it was so cold. "Daddy has a little tummy ache" was all I could muster. Every couple of miles we'd come to a stop light and he'd say, "Look for a bathroom! Look for a bathroom!" Again, nothing but farmland and the occasional strawberry stand, or nectarine store.

I was about to suggest he go squat behind a tree when we finally reached our turn-off. His Grandma's house was about four streets away and then it happened: our car massively overheated! Smoke entered through the A/C vents and started coming out of the hood. We zoomed around the last couple of turns and screeched to a halt in the trailer "community". Hubby jumped out and opened the hood and I'll I could see was black smoke.

"Get the kids out! Quick!" Some family members came out to help, and then we all trooped inside toward safety. Apparently the coolant line popped free and cause a bunch of drama underneath the hood. It was fixable, which was good, because this was not an area I'd like to be stranded in!

We ended up having a nice time and the kids played very well with their limited resources. My mother-in-law had purchased a bunch of food from Costco and we all dug in promptly! After lunch Grandma wanted to play "Happy Birthday" on the piano, so we all sang while she played. Then she played it again, so we sang it yet again. Then my mother-in-law brought over a cheesecake with a candle for her to blow out and someone suggested singing again. Are you kidding me! Nope, there was indeed a third rendition.

After dessert no one could find Ben (my two-year-old) so the whole house went hunting. I found him hiding in a corner by the piano. "Are you okay?" I asked. His eyes got really big and he shook his head and said "No." Then he got sick all over Grandma's carpet. I hauled him up, passed him to Hubby, and he ran him to the kitchen sink. I asked Grandma if she had any spray or carpet cleaner and was met with a blank stare, so I looked at my Mother-in-law for help. She asked Grandma, "Do you have something to clean the carpet, Mom? Some kind of cleaner?" Grandma just looked at me. I added, "I don't want your carpet to smell like vomit, so maybe you have something for me to clean it up with?" I was nodding my head at her in an encouraging sort of way. Again I got no reply. Finally someone produced a bottle of Lysol Kitchen Cleaner with Bleach. It was better than nothing!

After cleaning up the mess I realized there was a slight argument going on, and Grandma was looking very stubborn, sitting arms crossed in her chair. "What's going on?" I ventured. After some careful explaining by my sister-in-law I figured out that Grandma was complaining that she had never seen the two youngest babies, my Ben and my nephew. We both tried to explain to her that yes, she'd seem them both a number of times. We counted off specific events where Grandma had been present and had seen, even held, both boys. It was useless. Grandma sat stern in her chair refusing to believe.

Thankfully Hubby called, "It's time to go!" and happily we all packed up. In the car I asked, "Are we okay to make it home?" Hubby replied, "Let's hope so!" Oh, great...