Adventures of the Squatlies

Here we are in Alabama on New Year's Eve. Cool by Alabama standards...40 and sunny. What a week it has been. We started our adventure last Tuesday (December 23). It was my intent to document our travels as we went along, but I obviously have not. So, I will try to highlight our holiday in the posts that follow.

We have felt like the "Squatlies" lately. For those that aren't familiar, a squatly (or squatlie...not sure if there is a correct spelling) is a person (or group of people...most likely a family) that is a little disheveled, unorganized, "Cousin Eddie"-like (National Lampoon's cousin Eddie). This is a word that my mom coined. Brad and I like to use this word and have felt true to the term since we left Minnesota on December 23.

Our first "family" vacation has been a long, but special, trip. We loaded up the volvo wagon (complete with the car topper for luggage, which was tied to the top of the car with rope and old dog leashes), the bags, the gifts, the toys, the snacks, the books on CD, the dogs, the dog food, Sophie's cough suppressant (an essential), the diapers, the toys, oh... and the baby.

We pulled out of the driveway before 7pm (better than we had expected) and 17 hours later (around noon on Christmas Eve) arrived in Red Bay at Rowie and Opa's. Brad drove most of the way. I managed 3 hours in the middle of the night. Emma Claire was a trooper. She slept on and off. No major meltdowns. We stopped when she needed to eat. She was actually sick. I got a call from daycare the day we were to leave that she had a fever. So, I left work and took her to Doc Hobbs. We got the OK to travel and an antibiotic prescription and hit the road a few hours later.

We left the house in true squatlie form as well. One day before we left MN, we signed a contract to remodel our kitchen. This is a project we have been planning for a couple of years now, yet it all happened so quickly. The good thing is that they are able to start the demolition while we are away. The bad thing is that we had less than 2 days to pack up everything in the kitchen and most of the front of the house. The house was a disaster when we left. Can't imagine what it will look like when we return. No kitchen, minus a few walls. The next few weeks, the "adventure" will continue. We will stay there and camp out as long as we can.

So, to follow...more of our adventure.