Kirsten and I made a cross country trek with our little man in June. One way included a dog as well – and not a little one.  

The lead up to taking a foster kid on vacation, let alone out of state, requires a lot of advance planning and waiting. We requested the dates of our case worker, who contacted the judge. The judge notified the attorneys of the biological parents, who should have notified the parents (we assume they did). The parents had the opportunity to file a complaint, we were told. The judge responded to the case worker with approval, and we booked hotels! The length of this process depends on the case worker and the judge, but they ask for a minimum of 14 days notice. We requested in early April, got a new case worker shortly thereafter, requested again from the new case worker, and heard back in May. 

Scott had a bought of nausea and diarrhea just after we received the approval. We canceled a visit with his bio mom one week due to the illness. After the canceled visit, Scott’s mother suddenly had an issue with the approved vacation. Fortunately, she apparently didn’t voice that with the right people (namely her lawyer, who would have the right to notify the judge), and we were able to go north based on the judge’s original approval anyway. It felt strange to go knowing she was upset, but on the other hand, as the parents who have been taking care of this kid 24/7 for several months, it felt just like any family vacation.

My family lives in Indiana (aka. Canada to most Texans, though I protest greatly). Kirsten insisted we be overly prepared for this trip, for which I was later overly grateful. In addition to the multiple boxes of fun toys for Scott, she purchased a stroller, a backpack diaper bag (he isn’t in diapers anymore, but the diaper bags have those amazing pockets built for baby wipes, and this one even came with some insulated pockets for snack and drinks), SPF sleeves for me (I’m allergic to the sun – what kind of nonsense is that?!), and made lists from Pinterest of how to occupy a 3 year old for days in the car. She had motion sickness medicine, a first aid kit to rival a paramedic, and every kid-(and Avi)-friendly snack you could imagine. This is why I keep her around – if left to me, Scott and I would have one duffel bag of unfolded clothes and a back seat full of only chocolate. Momma Kirsten for the win!

I last-minute offered to ship a dog named Deets from Texas to Indiana for a friend of mine. Not so prepared for that. I still can’t figure out how we managed to fit everything in the car comfortably.  Kirsten is also really good at Tetris, apparently.

I was honestly expecting that drive to be horrible… I was pleasantly surprised! Scott did a fantastic job hanging in the car for two straight days. The innumerable amount of new toys and new DVDs we purchased for him helped. I can quote some episodes of Paw Patrol, though. 

Scott’s naptime and bedtime routines went by the wayside for most of vacation – one tip for parents of napping-age kids: you want to build that nap (even a short one) into the vacation schedule. A cranky 3 year old two hours past bedtime who never had their nap is a beast no one should have to fight. He slept hard every night though.

The moment he met my family in person, after having previously only met them via FaceTime, he seemed a little shocked – those phone-people are real?!

It took about 35 seconds for him to get over it, and soon he was laughing hysterically while my dad (Poppy) held him up to walk on the ceiling (and old family tradition). He was immediately impressed by my brother’s beard, learned how to catch “lightning bugs” with my sister and sister in law, and found out that when poppa Avi says “no candy,” Nana will give you some anyway.

I had the wonderful chance to see my great grandmother while up north on vacation. She had a few strokes in the couple of weeks leading up to our trip and was in poor health. My parents, brother, sister, and I were able to visit her for a short while in the hospital one evening while I was up north. My great grandmother actually passed away the following morning, so I was blessed to be with my entire extended family for the services. Scott had a great introduction to a pretty difficult situation. He made himself at home, climbing on my dad’s cousin’s lap, walking around shaking hands, and stroking one lady’s arm for a while sympathetically.  He even learned how to shoot the tops off some kind of weed after the grave side service, compliments of my mother and sister.

We had a few days of fun with my parents before heading off to adventure number 2 of this trip north. My parents purchased some squirt guns for Scott, and we had an epic water fight. It escalated to water hoses, my dad against Scott and me.

It came time to leave Indiana and travel to Chicago, for some big sort fun! My mother has a (somewhat funny) habit of crying very easily. Such as every time I leave her house… granted, since moving to Texas, I have only been able to visit twice per year, so every time I leave it’s going to be a while before she sees me again. Scott was introduced to that tradition as well.

He looked a bit nervous at the crying, but everyone else chuckled and he was at ease again.

 

We hit up Chicago for a few days before heading back south. The wonder in his eyes at every little thing warmed my heart. Skyscrapers, the Navy Pier, deep dish pizza, my pseudo-brother (long time friend, who calls my parents Mom and Dad) who lives up there,

trains and buses and people walking…

walls that shoot water, the aquarium, ferry boats, and the swankiest hotel I have ever had the pleasure of staying in… he took his first shower (he’s more of a rubber ducky in the bathtub boy at home) and had to watch actual commercials on TV. He met people singing and playing in the subway for cash, touched a sting ray, and rode the Ferris (Scott calls it “fairest”) wheel.

Making such a long trip in the car wouldn’t have been successful without the phenomenal forethought of Kirsten. Scott was happily occupied with all the boxes of new toys he was given every couple hours; there were snacks easily reachable at just the right times; and we learned to have an abundance of patience for how he would be affected by a drastic shift in routine. I think we’re going to be a road-tripping family more often.