Separate, But Equal

My wonderful summer in Delaware is beginning to come to a close. It has already ended for Alixa and Jenna, who left town earlier this week. They are currently (at least as of this writing) west of Omaha, somewhere in middle America. They are in a green Ford Excursion that is stuffed to the gills with people and luggage. The travel party consists of Alixa, Jenna (1 month), Loni, Alli (5), Madison (4), Taya (9 months), and Nancy (62). It isn’t exactly an ideal road trip crew. They are covering about 400 miles a day and have already had stops in Cleveland to see Omi, Champaign-Urbana to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Jene, and Omaha to see the College World Series. Tonight they get to sleep in Cheyenne (I’m not sure what there is to see there) and then it is on to Shelly Idaho, home of the Fightin’ Russets! For the most part the kids have been good, although there are frequent bathroom stops and eating stops and driver changing stops and any other kind of stop you can think of. They drove through Kickapoo, Illinois and decided that no place was a more appropriate stopping point for diaper changing. There have been a few blowouts and spit-ups, but the women seem to be having a good time.

Taya and Jenna, cousins and travelmates

Jenna is (reportedly) getting cuter by the day, and now smiles more than ever. Unfortunately, she continues to lose her hair, augmenting her “old man” look. Jarom will be flying out to Idaho tomorrow with Annie and her three little rats (an adventure all it’s own), so he will get to spend a week with more family members than you can shake a stick at. In the meantime, he has spent his newfound bachelor time golfing with his dad, eating out, not waking up in the middle of the night, and bleaching the trashcans to get rid of the rotten food/messy diaper odor that had become attached to them. I would be lying if I told you that he didn’t enjoy it, but at the same time he is very excited to see his wife and daughter this weekend.

This poor girl's mother thinks that monstrous bows on her head are cute

Last week Jenna had her first professional photography session, to mixed reviews. Nate and Kenz brought baby K up with them for the weekend, so Grandma wanted to get some shots with the three newborns. You can imagine how cooperative three newborns would be with a photographer, so there are no pictures with three happy children. It was good to see Nate and family, and it was almost pleasant to hear a baby crying at night that wasn’t Jenna. Nate also had a birthday yesterday, reaching the big 2-6. That means that he has entered the one month each year where Jarom is only one year older. The fact that they are so close in age only makes Nate’s crippling case of Younger Brother Syndrome all the more puzzling, an issue that was discussed by Jarom, Jesse, and Bruce as they celebrated the absence of their wives. No matter how many degrees he has, how much money he makes, or how successful he is in all aspects of life, Nate inevitably reverts to his 9-year old form if Jason or Jarom are present, deferring to them in all things and generally acting like a little brother. It is quite the sight. At any rate, Happy Birthday to Nate, and my apologies for not sending a present. Jarom won’t take me to the store, and I have no money anyway.

A couple of old pics that I think are sort of cute