Heading to Uncle Caanan and Aunt Kris’s in Kentucky!!!
Well-rested on the border of Ohio with a power breakfast of coffee, pop tarts, and peanut butter and jelly on Ritz crackers, we began the 6 and 1/2 hour drive. After almost 8 HOURS, a shit ton of traffic, several pees in the travel “toilet” (including a puddle-y accident from Yours Truly in the back while my dear husband made an abnormally lunge-y acceleration while I believed we were stopped in traffic), a 2-hour, bucket-dumping rainstorm in Cincinnati and such, a semi truck with it’s cargo dumped, causing even more traffic and a detour (which actually led us through some really beautiful parts of Kentucky), we FINALLY made it to Uncle Caanan’s place! Greeted with apple juice and bourbon (guess who drank what!) we enjoyed a homemade meal from Kristine out on the back deck and relaxed as the warm Kentucky night grew dark around us.
Still plenty warm, Rudy couldn’t wait to jump in the pool, so after dinner, he did. Auntie Kris joined him (which I found out later was actually really nice because she kind of hates water and that was only the 2nd time she’s been in her pool, even though they’ve lived there for a year and a half! Rudy’s THAT cute!) Caanan, Jared, and I stayed dry and enjoyed more bourbon and some blackberry moonshine. I mean, when in south. . .
Day 28:
A super special bond that Rudy has with a couple of cool dudes includes getting donuts. One guy is Rudy’s honorary uncle “Mock”. The other is my brother, Caanan. Caanan has been around since Rudy was born because he lived with Jared and I for a bit at that time (and several other times throughout our adult lives). They’ve always shared special time over cartoons, video games, and donuts. So, the first thing Uncle Caanan had to do with Rudy was take him out for donuts! Caanan wanted to give us some time to sleep in and catch up on each other. . . I mean, blogs. So he took Rudy to see a friend who has a ranch with mini ponies, a dog with 3 legs, a pool, another huge dog, and plenty of room to run around. It was a perfect way to start the day!
While they were out, Jared and I finally joined the living and ran errands, got caught in a storm, did laundry, found some sunny skies did some swimming of our own and were joined by Caanan and Rudy, who had discovered Diablo on XBox. . . it’s a miracle I got them out at all.
When Kristine got off work, they took us to their favorite Mexican restaurant (fun fact: Shelbyville, KY has a huge and rich Mexican population and a TON of Mexican restaurants). We had a great dinner and came home for more fun. Caanan had bought Rudy a Razor Hoverboard for his birthday, complete with helmet and shoulder/knee/elbow pads. I was certain our first emergency room trip was close at hand, but Rudy did pretty well, and I’m sure he’ll have it mastered in a few months. Jared almost ate shit, but managed to save himself (and his pride) by holding my brother’s hand for guidance and made a few passes around the driveway without incident. The rain started to threaten our good time, so we went in to check out Caanan’s new piano. He recently decided to take lessons and found someone giving away an old player piano on FB Marketplace. However, the player part had stopped working somewhere along the move. Well, Jared’s tinkering spirit* came out and dragged my brother along with him. In about 45 min, they had taken the piano front apart a bit and figured out how to fix it!!! Before you knew it, the paper was turning, the keys were playing independently, and we were all singing along to “Grease” like a family of the 1950’s on a rousing Friday night!!! It actually was so awesome and brought back fond memories of singing “Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” with my aunts and uncles around my Grandma Clair’s player piano when I was 5. The night was almost over. Enough time for cartoons, then passing out! A full and delightful day.
*Editor’s note: Jessi had originally typed “Jared’s ‘tinker’ came out and dragged my brother along with him . . . “, which paints quite a different picture than what actually happened. For the record, my “tinker” made a brief appearance earlier in the day, but remained safely stowed for the remainder.
