7 Quick Takes about Road Trips, Stores My Family Should Never Patronize, and Art Theory

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday!

—1—

I haven't been as active in the blogosphere as I would've liked this week, but I have an excuse! I was trapped in a car for 44 hours with Phillip and our 5 kids, visiting family for Christmas. It actually turned out to be a really entertaining trip. Let's roll the highlight reel, shall we?

—2—

Just over the border of Pennsylvania, we passed a big yellow billboard that read:

Fireworks

Karate Supplies

Swords & Knives

Pepper Spray & Stun Guns

Briefly, I thought about pulling over and letting my kids loose in the place, just to see what would happen.

—3—

Although I can stay awake in front of a computer all night, I develop severe narcolepsy when you put me behind the wheel after dark. So we drove two days each way, stopping at a hotel overnight.

It was late when we pulled into a Best Western in Ohio, but my kids were completely wired. There were lots of shenanigans going on before getting everyone to sleep, but my favorite was watching my 3-year-old walk around "reading" out loud to us all from the hotel room Bible (but really just saying all the words she could remember from "The Night Before Christmas.") 

—4—

We stayed at a Hampton Inn & Suites on the way home, where the hallway carpet gave me vertigo.

Seriously, I had a hard time walking in a straight line to our room.

It was like one of those spinning optical illusions you're supposed to stare at for 30 seconds and then look in a different direction, and space is all fuzzy and moving. I may have had a seizure.

—5— 

Other than the carpet, I liked the place, especially how the walls of the breakfast area were covered with funky-looking pieces of modern art.

Jokingly, I pointed to a piece of artwork over my scrambled eggs and asked my kids, "So what does that one say to you?"

I was surprised when they gave me insightful answers.

My 6-year-old said, "Don't destroy things for no reason." (Don't know where he's heard that before.)

My 8-year-old said, "The earth is fragile so treat it carefully."

My 10-year-old said, "When you do bad things, they stick to you and color everything else you do."

Phillip looked up briefly at the painting and said, "Barf."

He may be a food snob, but art critic he ain't.

—6—

Not really a highlight, but the kids and I almost got backed over by a car in a gas station parking lot. 

I don't how you can miss a group of 6 people walking behind your car (okay, some of them were very short,) but it was clear as the driver backed up that she didn't see us AT ALL. I couldn't just jump out of the way because the kids would get hit, so I stood where I was and screamed at her to stop. Very scary, and she stopped just in time. 

Now our kids get treated to a 5-minute lecture about watching for cars every time we're within 10 feet of a parking lot, driveway, street, or parking garage. 

—7—

During the last 3-hour leg of the trip, my son fell asleep. When we pulled into our driveway and woke him up, he looked around and said, "Well, that was quick." 

I guess that's as good a summary of our epic 44-hour road trip as any.

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