30 Day Photo Challenge: Days 2-6, and a few extras from my trip to visit family

Day 2: What I wore to ride/drive ~700 miles to visit my family -- my jacket, a plaid shirt, sparkly T-shirt and jeans. Last minute trips are the best! :) Taken in a gas station bathroom en route.

Last Friday morning 2 minutes before class, I got a phone call asking if I wanted to go home for a few days over break. We had talked about maybe going -- but, for various reasons... heading into the end of the week, it did not look like the trip was going to happen. I, of course, said "Yes!" as I had spring break and was wanting to spend some time with my family. After class, packed up my bags -- taking clothes out of the washer and off the chair-where-things-are-held-prior-to-folding, said good-bye to Pete over lunch, and headed home. 12 hours later -- I said "hello" to my mom and dad, excited to be able to enjoy a week with them and other family.

Day 3: Clouds -- couldn't decide which I liked better... this?

Or this? You can see the moon through the trees. Both were taken while going on a walk around the block.

Day 4: Favorite color -- I love all colors -- they make me happy. Red, Green, yellow, blues, anything... without them the world would be very bland. I also love this saying. I saw this while I was down there and had to take a picture of it! :) I can think of many things I could look back on and wish I had done differently, be it starting school earlier or having a random fun job out West somewhere (never happened) when I was younger ~ but that would have taken some of the journey out of life.

Day 5: Someone I love. This pic was taken after a "lice scare" at my mom and dads (and actually was taken Saturday -- but thought it most appropriate for this day's pic).

Funny story: Saturday, after having a really nice lunch at a Japanese hibachi steakhouse. My dear sister, Jenna, saw white dots in another sister's hair. This girl is absolutely paranoid of getting lice, and checks her daughter's hair a few times a day. So, white dots = lice.

After saying that "(the littlest sister) has lice", she asked another one of my sisters (a nurse) to double-check. By this time, we were all scratching our heads -- suddenly finding them very itchy. So, she saw the white dots and was convinced -- the littlest sister had lice (by the way, my sister who is a nurse has never seen a case of lice). We swung through the pharmacy on the way home to pick up lice combs, shampoo, etc. and all started to get in the rhythm of scouring the house, bagging up brushes/hair stuff, etc. And treating hair with Permethrin cream rinse, and spraying fabric stuffs that can't be washed with Permethrin spray. (We treated the sister with "lice" and my hair. The Permethrin cream rinse kills eggs, bugs, etc. for 14 days and I was not going to be in down for > 14 days... so to me, treating my hair seemed like a good idea.)

My mom starts combing out the sister's hair where the "lice" was discovered. And... found that she has a bad case of dandruff. They were not able to find any eggs stuck to hair shafts, live bugs, or anything else suggestive of lice in her hair. Just lots of flaky dry scalp pieces. Everyone's hair got checked for lice, and though we found a few more cases of dandruff... we never found any lice.

We ran out that evening and bought dandruff shampoo, and lots of lice-repellent shampoos and sprays... not wanting a repeat of that scare! :)

Day 6: Childhood memory. Growing up here was magical. Setting sun through my parents window.

Petting sharks and sting-rays at the zoo. Jenna, Jaedon, Nolan.

 Thursday, my mom, grandma, Jenna, Jaedon and Nolan went to the zoo. So fun!

Komodo Dragon

Jaedon playing with the penguins -- this little guy would follow her hand up, down, and side to side when she ran in front of the glass. So cute! :)

Nolan -- king of the hill. He did not want to leave this rock ~5 feet higher than the ground. He liked looking at the penguins, and watching people walk by beneath him.

And, how can I not add this little smiling chica -- my sister Kristen's daughter. She loves dogs, and kept looking for my parent's dog, Tucker. She has 2 dogs of her own at home -- Kimber and Moose. She knows the dog's names and "puppy, puppy". Certainly takes after her mom -- loves animals!

Heading home -- part of me will always be in this city. Lots of fun memories here! :)

We came home yesterday. Getting back about 11:30 PM. 10.5 hours -- very good time with two 17 month olds! :) They were really good in the car, and enjoyed getting treats, water and playing with toys.

Outside of going to the Japanese steakhouse for hibachi and subsequent lice scare, and making it to the Minnesota zoo... we went boutiquing one day, shopping another day, hit up Applebee's for half-priced appetizers, and had many lovely meals together.  I met my sister-in-law for coffee at a cute local coffee shop, and made it to Kristen and Jenna's houses -- to have some really fabulous sourkraut pizza and watch the bachelor-tells-all Monday night as a group. I went to a wedding shower and was able to catch up with a few people. I was thankful to be able to spend so much time at home -- getting to know some of my younger siblings and neices and nephews; and talking with mom, dad, Grandma D., siblings, and others. I did get in some studying... but like the above quote, could regret that it was not enough nor near as much studying as I would have gotten if I had stayed home or look at it as perfect because it got me to where I am today.