Last week I had the pleasure of going on a ROAD TRIP with my parents. Yes, my parents. =) We were driving up to Virginia for a good friend of mine's wedding. We haven’t taken a road trip like this in a long, LONG time. When I was younger we would always drive whenever we would go visit our family in Indiana and Boston. There are way too many people in our family so driving was always the more logical choice. And even though these trips were always long and tiring, we always had a fun time. My favorite van that we used to have was this blue

conversion van with the blinds on the windows. You know what I’m talking about, right? The back seats would lie down completely so we would have this giant space in the back to play games and sleep and do whatever.

Dad was always responsible for the strategic packing of all our crap, Mom was always responsible for packing the food and snacks for the road, and we were responsible for bringing music, Mad Libs, and enough paper to play Hangman and M.A.S.H. We would scope out specific exits that we wanted to stop at, have picnics at rest stops, laugh and be silly, catch up on some sleep, and sing to our favorite songs. I remember my friends back then would always say, “you’re DRIVING?” with complete and utter shock. I mean when you’re in your teens, you definitely don’t want to be stuck in a car with your parents for 20 + hours (sorry, Mom and Dad, but it’s true). But what’s funny to me is how much things really don’t change over time.

On this trip, Dad still did the strategic packing, Mom still packed the snacks and food, we still stopped at specific exits, had picnics, laughed and were silly, and most definitely sang to our favorite tunes. I think I was too young to appreciate it then, but I realize now more than ever, our “little” road trips helped us build a really strong relationship as a family. Nothing says patience, love, family like being stuck in a car for days on end with people who are EXACTLY like you and actually coming out alive. =)

I read a blog post the other day (sorry, I didn’t bookmark it and I can’t find it to save my life) where it discussed routines and how it’s SO boring how some things are always the same. For example, there will always be dishes to clean, laundry to fold, and tubs to scrub. But I have to say, I really disagree with that. Yeah, sometimes doing the same things can be mundane, but I kind of marvel in knowing those “routines” are always there. To me, life is changing so quickly all around me anyway that I find complete comfort in knowing some things will always be the same. Don’t you?