A Weekend of Housework, An Open House, and a 16 Hour Drive with a Cat and a Toddler

So, like I said in the previous post, my mom and dad came down to Charleston to help me get ready for another Open House. Dad had the bright idea that Charlotte, Max, Baby Jackson and I should load up and go back to Illinois with them. We decided that would be a great idea. So we had a busy weekend ahead...

Saturday morning, after getting back from our dinner with Alex in Spartanburg the night before, we got up and got to work on the house. The yard was in MAJOR need of mowing and some quick upkeep so dad took charge with that. Mom and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. I finally got my garage in order and ready for boxes to start stacking as I get them packed. And we started packing more and more boxes.

But first, Dad taught Charlotte how to put money in her piggy bank :) He cleaned out his pockets and gave her the change.

She was very serious about it.

Then, we did some work, ate a good lunch, and it was nap time for the two hardest working people in the house... Charlotte and Papa. How hilarious are they all sprawled out??? She was so tired that she fell asleep on my shoulder as I finished my lunch.

After getting random stuff packed up and stored in the garage and the house almost ready for the open house, we went to dinner at Shem Creek with the Prices. Oh how all of us will miss them :( It was a delicious dinner. We went early so that Charlotte wouldn't be a troll. It was delicious, fun, and we had a great time talking. We made it back to the house and we all hit the sack.

On Sunday morning we all got up and finished getting the house ready. I had to finish packing for Illinois. Everything was ready by 1 pm and the Open House was at 2 pm. So, right around 2, we all went to King Street Bar and Grill for lunch and then we drove around. Charlotte fell asleep in the car so we just drove around until it was time for us to go back to the house. We then talked to Jules and got all loaded up and ready for the LOOONNNG drive over 6 states back to mom and dad's house. The very last thing we did before leaving was load Max into the car.

So here was the view right when we started the drive. Max was dad's co-pilot. How cute is he???

Shockingly enough, Max was waaaayyyy better than Charlotte was. He just hung out. He liked dad quite a bit when dad was driving but otherwise he hung out by me. He never really ate or drank anything and he never used the bathroom. But he was down right fabulous on the drive.

Charlotte had her moments. She just hates her carseat. She hates to be tied down. She hates to feel like she is missing out on something. So she fussed off and on for the first 2 hours (typical for her.) We left at 5:45 pm Eastern time. We stopped about every 2 hours and we always switched drivers and went to the bathroom. Charlotte fell asleep at about Newberry, SC and slept until right before Champaigne, IL.  She would wake up a lot of the time when we would stop somewhere and go inside. The car door closing and the lights turning off and on in the car would sometimes wake her up but she'd go back to sleep. We got to mom and dad's house a little after 8 am Central time. It was a good drive... not too terrible. It was just stressful in the beginning bc we were unsure as to how the feline and the toddler would do. We've found that traveling through the night for long distances is the best route.

We made it safe and sound!!!  We are Illinois residents for the next 4 weeks :)