The final chapter in our epic tale...

Sunday  morning I woke up exhausted but looking forward to the day -- we were going home!!!  Katie and Julia slept in till 8, which was nice, and it seemed their fevers weren't quite as bad as the day before.  2 doses of Tylenol were administered, just for good measure.

Leaving the Old House is always an ordeal.  Everything has to be cleaned, top to bottom.  Rat poison needs to be laid out (yummm), water turned off, windows locked, beds stripped and laundry done.  The house was built in 1905, so it needs a lot of TLC to keep it standing and ready for the next trip down.  Anyway, the water pump was having problems, so we couldn't use the water off and on the whole morning.  We were still able to leave only an hour later than planned - around noon, and boy was I happy to be on the road!

So, squished in the back seat between 2 car seats, I set off again with Will, Chris, Ally and Devon in our van.  The stomach bug was definitely full blown in the family, so the bumpy back seat was a little rough.  But our new GPS kindly told us that we would be home by 6:45!!  Woohoo!  I sat there thinking to myself, "Wow, this day has gone relatively smoothly.  At least 1 out of 3 days isn't bad."

Then I hear it.  Ka-thwump!  Ka-thwump, Ka-thwump, Ka-thwump!!!  Yep, we blew one of our back tires.  On 95, in the middle of central Virginia, still 2 hours from home.   Oh, and we didn't have a spare!!!  Yes, it's 5 p.m., the girls were tired... and hungry... and we were stranded.  I don't understand all the logistics, but for whatever reason, no road-side assistance people could help us.  So my dad's van had to turn around (they were a solid 40 miles ahead of us by this point) and pick us all up.  They had just went through a huge traffic jam, and now they had to turn around to pick us up, and drive through it again.  Let's just say that spirits were low at this point.  =)  They have a 12 passenger van, but there still weren't enough seats, so the girls had to sit on my lap.  No car seats!!!  More videos kept them content for the most part, and we got home at 10 instead of 7.  It really could have been a lot worse, so I was grateful.

Chris and Will then had to turn right back around and go get our van.  So they patched our spare (it had a hole in it which was why we didn't bring it!), drove the 2 plus hours back, changed the tire in the dark, and drove home.  

They got in at 2:30 Monday morning.

So, there it is.  Our first - and most likely last - vacation for the summer.  I hope you have enjoyed hearing about it.  I'll put some pics up from our last day!