And thus began what felt like a four-day marathon of driving to and along the East Coast. In many respects it was great, as we were a three-car caravan that was made up of us three and Judge's parents in one, and in the other two an uncle on Judge's mom's side with each of their families of four, plus Judge's grandma. Thus we had lots of time with family we hadn't seen in quite a while, who all get along really well, and who have all missed Leona tons and looked so forward to us coming back.
For Leona - and thus for me - however, it was a tough four days because the car-time was way too much and too often, and there were just so many people who all love her and wanted to connect with her again, and so were all very proactive about it - meaning she didn't have the time or space to observe them first and be able to take initiative herself, leaving her constantly pulling away and back and seeking shelter with me and Judge. It's hard, because we can't really mention anything about their approach to them, to try and let her have the space she needs, because of 'rank'. And knowing they all just love her so much makes it kind of heart-wrenching as well, as of course I just wish she could feel safe and happy with them all.
At one of our stops, we were at a beach full of wonderful rocks - Leona LOVES rocks - and 2nd auntie choreographed this picture, which represents it perfectly:
[The 13 stones in a circle represents the 13 adults, and the little rock in the middle represents Leona
- she really was the center of our big family on this trip!]
Four days means three nights, all spent in B&Bs. At the first the 14 of us had two rooms, and we were split girls and boys, except Judge and his grandma swapped spots so that it was also snorers and non-snorers (thankfully, as I'm an uber-light sleeper). Though I was super nervous for how it would go in terms of Leona and some night-crying, it went exceptionally well, as she kind of folds in on herself and doesn't dare let loose with lots of people around her ... not that I wish for her to hold back of course, but it let them all sleep well, and she has ample opportunity to really let loose with just me and Judge ;)
Second night we had three rooms, and they were split between our three families with us, his parents and grandma in one. Not as smooth sailing as there was quite a bit more noise from the others both just as she was almost asleep as well as earlier in the morning, so her (Leona's) amount of sleep was cut down by a few hours (sleep she was still really short on).
Third night was the most comfortable for me, as it was us three plus two of Judge's cousins in a room - both of whom were super thankful to be sleeping in the same room as us rather than their thunderous dad.
Third night Judge's sister and her family of four joined us as well, so Leona got to hang a bit with her two cousins (Owen is a year older, Zoe is a year younger), and the focus got spread between the three of them - also a blessing.
Because everyone really enjoyed having this kind of exclusive family time, it was decided that next year we'll do a trip as well. This time, however, Judge will plan a lot of it, and we're thinking of just heading to Tainan and booking a B&B for all three nights, and then people can radiate out from the central hub as they wish. This is our plan not only because we love and miss Tainan dearly, but because we want to have a more kid-friendly trip where we can stay out of the car and keep our routines as much as possible.
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