The Tangrens

We weren’t exactly sure when we were going to leave for the return trip. We toyed with the idea of staying another day in Michigan and as it turned out we all but did.

We made the decision to leave after dinner tonight and get as far as Joliet in Illlinois so that we’d only have 3 or 4 hours to Nauvoo tomorrow. Then we could spend a good chunk of time there as well as spending a little more time with my parents before we headed off to chase the sun. We made a list of errands and went to get that done while the older boys went with Papa to the botanical gardens to play in the Great Lake shaped water tables and tree houses.  When we got done we called my Dad and he said “You’re done already?”  And we were worried about overwhelming him with our crazy boys. J

One of the things we wanted to do with the boys before we left Michigan was to take some bottles back to the bottle return so that they could have the experience. When we got there there was a line of people who had garbage bags full of cans so it took a little longer than planned. The guy behind us offered to pay us for the bottles since we only had four and Derek really wanted to take him up on it but I wanted the boys to watch the bottles roll away and hear them crunch as they smashed and then get the receipt for the 40 cents.  As it turned out they did have fun with it and I for one thought it was worth it.

When we got back to the house we ran around finishing the last load of laundry, finding toys and packing everything up so we could leave right after dinner. While we were doing that my dad made us a wonderful steak dinner.  After dinner I went and got Elijah and he sat and “talked” with my parents.


At one point my mom said “You’re probably upset because you are leaving us today.” And JUST when she said that he got the biggest frown and just started to wail.  Then she said ”Oh don’t worry sweetheart. You don’t have to leave. You can stay here with us.”  And while she was talking to him he started to perk up and as she continued to talk he started smiling and laughing!


This little boy has gotten very used to being held by all of his mothers in Michigan. He has really bonded with them and will miss them when we are home.  In fact this perfect little traveler cried and fussed the better portion of the three hours to Joliet, poor thing. Wish we lived closer.

We finally got out of town around 8:30 but then realized we forgot some things and had to turn around to meet my parents with it and then get going for real around 9:15.

Since we were bringing home a canoe on our roof and can’t access the things in the back of the car via the back hatch we rearranged the boys seating which makes for different dynamics in the car.


This will be interesting. We thought we’d have a car full of sleeping boys when we finally reached the hotel at quarter to midnight Michigan time and quarter to 11 Illinois time. But we have some boys that don’t have much semblance of a sleep schedule these days with very late nights and early mornings. Hopefully things can get better from here on out.  All I know is that church is going to be brutal on Sunday.