Christmas 2012 Road Trip...

We decided to make the 1300 mile road trip to PA to spend the holidays with my family knowing that long trips would be put on hiatus until further notice with Bebe D on his/her way. So the week before our departure, Cole got to open one gift each evening from us or from Dave's family since we weren't about to lug everything in the truck with us. Relatively early (it was still dark) on December 22 we began our trek east. A huge snowstorm had just swung south of the Twin Cities and dumped on Madison, WI but the highways were clear as we passed through (the side roads we took to lunch were another story). It was a long day but we hit our destination outside Cleveland, OH about 13 hours after we left home. Tired and a wee crabby we all slept well before getting up and finishing the drive on Sunday. We got to my parents house around 3pm, ahead of schedule. :-)

Of course the holiday fairy had descended on my parent's house and it was decorated to the nines. Cole and Gigi counted her vast collection of Santa figures of all shapes and sizes (98!!) Dad had set-up his traditional two Christmas trees (one was in their living room and in honor of my Nana), the other one which was the size of a small shed (10 feet easily and just as round) was set up taking over the entire south corner of their sunroom. Santa hadn't even come yet and the packages were piled and stacked high. Christmas has always been an event in the Scull family. :-)

Cole helped put candy canes on the tree and bring even more gifts downstairs that my mom had stashed in the guest room. My sister and two nieces came over for Christmas Eve dinner just as the snow began to fall. We took a walk around my parent's neighborhood afterwards as all the houses put out candle luminaries. With the snow coming down and the streets lined with candlelight, it was a big magical. Off to bed for Cole with a last check on the Santa app to see where he was delivering in the world. Cole had a hard time falling asleep with his mind and body electric with excitement. We thought he was finally out, only to have his feet pitter patter down the stairs as Mom stuffed stockings, eekkk. Luckily, Pop Pop intercepted the sleepy boy just as he turned into my parent's kitchen and back upstairs I went to lay with him until his breathing told me he was truly OUT! Whew, close call!

Christmas morning dawned early (did we think that Cole would sleep in??? LOL) and he eagerly raced downstairs as I chased him with the camera attempting to capture his face as he witnessed that Santa had come! Everyone else was moving more slowly especially poor Dave who stayed up to put together a LEGO Ninjago set that took almost three hours to complete. An emptying of stockings and then a move to the sunroom where Santa had left more loot. My sister and kids were due to come over later that morning after experiencing their Santa gifts at home. We all took turns opening gift after generous gift. The sun finally rose and slowly we made our way through the piles. :-)


Cole was a happy camper with all his new stuff (and insistent on pulling everything out all at once to fill with batteries or piece together). Dad and Mom made breakfast and I attempted to clean up the aftermath of boxes and wrapping paper. Trish and the girls came over mid-morning and more unwrapping ensued. The kids played all afternoon while the adults recovered. A delicious dinner of Dad's famous rolled rib-roast was had and we all went to bed early, exhausted but happy.

We kicked around the next day, went for a walk in Tyler Park and helped Mom get ready for friends that were coming for dinner. Another storm was pending, this one a rain/mix event, by afternoon, the skies were angry and the rain pelted the windows. It was warm and cozy inside though with great conversation and eats with our guests. Thursday was another awful rainy day and not everyone was feeling great so we laid low and enjoyed the downtime. Dave packed up the truck as we would be leaving early Friday for our ride back to MN.

We pulled out of the driveway around 7am and began the drive west. Pennsylvania is a big state and I agreed with Cole when he kept asking if we were out of PA yet and we said "NO" and he sighed. Finally crossing into Ohio, we got a second wind. We ended up in South Bend, IN for the evening where the snow was falling. We considered driving straight thru but decided against it, it was just too much driving at night on dicey roads with me almost 5 months pregnant. We got up and going on Saturday (my 41st birthday), sailed through Chicago and ticked off the miles until we began to see signs for St. Paul. It was wonderful to get home, despite the frigid cold and snow that greeted us. We unloaded (and I put everything away as I just cannot relax until I do). We would be celebrating my birthday on Sunday instead so we all crashed early, grateful for a wonderful trip, generous family and a fun Christmas!