Packing every kid that belongs to me into the truck, we headed on our way. I dropped Michael off at a friend's house in our old neighborhood for the next couple of days, and Jonny and Alex jumped off at Grandma's nearby to spend the afternoon resting and doing computer "work" (ha). The rest of the kids and I had a special visit to make before settling at Grandma's.
We shared a few quick hours with my longest known friend, Tracey and her 3 kiddos. Knowing each other since first grade, our visits seem to be much too long in between, as we are both living on complete opposite sides of the cities, both of us as possibly far to the borders as the "metro area" is defined. It is always a treat to finally get together.
The kids always seem to pick up right where they left off, comfortably playing together in the wonderful play room above the garage. Today, that allowed Tracey and I to catch up on each other's lives, and she was introduced to Bethany.
My goddaughter, Lizzie, also got to meet the newest little member of our family.
And our two year old boys spent the afternoon being shy together.
The time went much too quickly, so we made tentative plans to return the next day if Alex got done early enough with his unscheduled driver's test. Tracey sent us away with about a million presents(not much of an exaggeration), and we rushed (make that, 'crawled along' in "rush hour")down the freeway to meet my parents and other boys at the Science Museum.
It was there that we boarded the Titanic.
For some of us, this was our second trip aboard the massive ship, as we had previously departed from the Floridian docks a few years back. But for most of the kids, it was their first time. They all eagerly read their boarding passes, and quickly memorized their roles and status. We were entertained by members of the crew along the way who were not only interesting to talk to, but who also had so much information to tell us in such charming British accents, it was impossible not to soak up every word spoken.
We were fascinated by artifacts found on the ocean floor, enchanted with the childhood games of the times, like tiddlywinks and Jacob's Ladder, amazed by the coldness felt of the giant iceberg, and horrified by video replications of that fateful day on April 12, 1912. We were drawn to near tears on several occasions as we read through stories of those who had been on the boat nearly 100 years ago....stories of loss, as well as survival. Men. Women. Children. Over 2,000 people, all whose lives changed dramatically in one unfortunate evening.
At the end of the exhibit, we searched the wall for our character names, hoping for "our" survival. Amongst our group of 10, only myself and my three girls made it through the dark, cold waters alive. Sad.
We tried to enjoy a few other displays in the museum before leaving late in the evening due to extreme hunger and fatigue. We had, after all, just spent the better part of the night trying to stay afloat in the icy ocean waters. 
A quick stop at Chipotle for dinner at 9pm, then off to bed for all the kids. Sweet dreams, little ones. Sweet dreams.
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