Huasheng Rouding (China)

Usually I write about my cultural journey with my family in this blog, but today I am going to write about the literal journey that my family just took, which explains in part my recent absence from posting. This was a big deal for us, given it would be the first time we spent a night, let alone five, away from home since our youngest came home. We've worked so hard in the last ten months to become the family we are today, but are still in the process of working through trauma, bonding, and emotional well-being. This trip was a test for us, and we did very well.

As with most adventures, getting there is half the battle. We left town for five nights to drive to Cincinnati and visit John's family and introduce them to Suki. The drive itself is about 13 hours one way. We stopped half way there to spend the night, but drove straight home in one day coming back.  Here are the highlights, insights, and little know trivia about the family from that drive:

• My children are amazing travelers! They spent 12 hours in the car on our drive to Cincinnati (and 12 hours back), and never complained, whined, or even asked when we would get there.

• One should never realize that their driver's license is three weeks expired as they are pulling our of the driveway. If this occurs, one's wife (me), will advise not to get caught because said wife is still not going to drive.

•  When travelling for the first time with a child who has lived three quarters of his life in survival mode, he will find a way to protect his new found happiness, even if he is relatively secure in and excited about the trip. Thus, every time I turned around, did I find Suki with a toy that he had secreted away, just in case. The treasures he chose to bring: an Incredible Hulk mask, a toy cell phone, Mistletoe the stuffed Christmas cat, and a recent art project.

• Suki now measures all yucky things in the world against a peanut he tried to touch on the floor of a public men's restroom, yelling things like "PU Peanut!" when he now encounters something gross, like a stinky skunk roadkill smell as it permeates the car. His father's reaction to his reach was what cemented that into place.

• Every time we enter the state of Illinois we boo because due to some unfortunate and now rather hysterical reasons, my husband, the kindest, most just, most law abiding man I know, may not drive in the state. In Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio, he's still good.

• It is never a good thing to mistake a 2 tsp dose of cough syrup for 2 TBSP. One will spend all of Indiana and most of Illinois incredibly ill and out of it, though the coughing will stop.

• Oreo cookies, Matchbox cars, Superhero Squad books, and The Avengers cartoon series will keep children occupied for a ridiculously long time.

• Twelve hours is totally worth it for the memories of cousins riding bikes, playing house, making art projects, and giggling uncontrollably over lunch around Grandma's table. 

Oh, and if you made it this far I made a recipe tonight, Huasheng Rouding, diced pork with peanuts. It was delicious;)