And They're Off!

Yes folks, Shelly has taken on her bravest stunt yet with Madison. As I write this, her father, Tom, and her are driving to Oregon with Madison in tow. They are doing this at night to lessen the chances of upsetting the tempest, and from the last report I received, everything was going smoothly. Madison is sleeping, and the traffic is light, but let me remind you that it just takes one ill-spirited truck driver to flash his high-beams into the face of our fickel child, and it will be a long rest of the trip for Tom and Shelly. (I will keep everyone posted!) I did ask Madison this morning how she felt about the drive to Oregon, and this is what she had to say:


"We're going to Oregon? I love Oregon! I always get so much attention up there! When are we flying out? Did you know this will be my seventh time on an airplane?"

"Uhm, Madison your not flying but driving up there with Mom and Grandpa."


"Whatcha talking about Willis?"

"You're driving up there, Madison. Won't that be fun?"


"You have to be kidding me. How long is that twelve or fourteen hours? I can't even stand being in my car seat when we go to the grocery store, let alone driving to another state! Dad, we need to talk about this."

In the end, Shelly and I were able to convince Madison it was going to be fun, and. . . okay, so Madison has no clue what is going on, though I am pretty sure, if she did and could talk, her conversation would have closely resembled what I have written above. The only convincing being done is to ourselves, trying to trick ourselves into believing this is not a totally idiotic plan!

Madison settling in for the night.

Shelly and Tom acting excited about the night of driving before them.

What Shelly and Tom really think about the night before them.

We spent most of today packing and re-packing the rocket box mounted on top of our Outback. I must say that roof rack systems make me nervous, for I have this vivid memory as a small child sitting in the back of my parents' station wagon, as we drove to my grandmother's house, and watching my suitcase fly off the roof rack and become another casualty of our American highways. The worst part was that it was only my suitcase lost, and my Ronald McDonald toothbrush inside (my pride and joy at the time) was in that suitcase and lost forever. This Rocket box is made by Thule, a Sweedish company, and I am hoping the Sweeds must know what they are doing. After all, they did bring us Ikea.

In other big news Madison has started crawling. Unfortunately, she can only go in reverse, though I don't think this is discouraging her. She's just happy to be moving, and I can't blame her. For several weeks now, I have watched her get the courage to crawl and instead headplant into the floor. It must suck to have your head be so big it weights you down.