Our Joyful Journey: Weekend Trip to Visit Great Grandma

I embarked on my first solo long road trip with the kids last weekend to visit my grandma since Jimmy was working. I picked the kids up from Adventure Club about 2:45 and we were on the road!

We usually stay in a hotel about 25 minutes from her house. That makes for a long drive so I chose a spot in Sioux City, Iowa. Our first leg was 4.5-5 hours, which meant just one stop was enough. We checked in and the kids immediately put their suits on for the pool.

We had it to ourselves so I was able to call Jimmy and chat.

It's hard to see in this photo, but there were train tracks just outside the window. Parker loved watching it go by.

We grabbed our continental breakfast before making the final 2.5 hour drive to Grandmas. The lobby and breakfast area had two story ceilings with lots of ceiling fans, so Parker made sure to do plenty of inspections.

After lunch, we opened Christmas presents.

Esme got a set of 8 mini food squishmallows and Parker got a giant pop-it sensory mat that I didn't get a picture of. Both of them got a few other small things and some cash.

I brought Esme's bingo cards thinking it would be fun game that all of us could play. I picked up some small candy prizes for the winners.

Even thought these trips are quick and short, I love getting to catch up with grandma and Larry.

One perk of staying in Sioux City, was being able to take a slight detour to Wayne, NE for a stop at Runza. This is the closest to our drive and it's either on the back half of a long, late drive or we are passing by before it's open on the way home.

The kids went for swim #2 after getting back.

We finished our time in Iowa with breakfast and one more dip in the pool. It was nice not to feel like we needed to get going since it was a shorter drive home.