There's no place like home

2500 miles.

Over 30 hours of driving.

300 rounds of "How far to the Iowa/Illinois/Indiana/Ohio/Pennsylvania/etc border?"

Over an hour spent sitting in a repair shop outside Toledo. And the accompanying bill. And the thankfullness for just finding an open repair shop on July 5th.

Endless taunting of signs as we cross Minnesota. "HA! Look! You've only gone 5 miles and we're going to put another sign here to remind you of just how far you still have to go!"

But we finally made it home. Up the exit ramp, onto familiar streets to the excited cheers of two VERY bored children. (And the inner cheers of two VERY tired parents.)

It was a great vacation. The boys swam, and swam, and swam some more. In hotel pools, at their cousin's house, at the retreat center. If there was water, they wanted in it.

They mini-golfed, played shuffleboard, ran circles in the retreat center housing, and even had time for a quiet game of chess.

With made up rules, of course!

We got to spend precious time with my brother and his family. We got to enjoy the beauty of Laurelville Mennonite Church Center with Mike's family and friends from the years they spent in Bolivia. Add in a brief stop on the way home with one of Mike's best friends from college and our trip was complete.

It was a whirlwind trip over six days, four of them spent in the car. But I am glad we made it.

And now we are home. The garden needs weeding, the laundry is piled up, there is payroll to be done and quarterly reports to complete. But there is something relaxing about being in my own space again. Room to stretch, to breathe, to be family with all our imperfections and our joys.

There's no place like home.