On the Move

I don't like to post that we're going out of town before we leave, since that seems to me like an invitation to come over and eat all our dog food.

But now that we're safely at home I'd like to share that so far this month we've been to Wyoming - for Paul's parents' retirement party - and Indiana - for a gathering with my family.

Teddy and I flew to Wyoming while Paul and the girls drove out with Paul's sister, her husband, and their turning-4-year-old. The car wouldn't quite carry all 8 of us (including 4 car seats) so we figured we'd save the two-month-old the trauma of a 1000 mile road trip. It was a lovely weekend with 23 of Paul's family members and 100+ of their closest friends(!). Congrats to my in-laws!

Ellie flew back with Teddy and me so that she wouldn't miss the first day of summer school. Teddy and Ada and I spent the rest of the week at Vacation Bible Camp. Last week we had a few days of "down time" for playdates, a birthday party, a creek stomp, more summer school, and a dance recital. Then we struck out on another trip.

This weekend we drove to Brown County, Indiana, for my family's annual summer getaway. (We usually go to the beach in South Haven, Michigan.) We stayed in this amazing "log cabin." Amazingly, we all fit: in the great room, around the massive dining table, and in the 5 bedrooms. Each bedroom had its own en suite bathroom. This is the way to keep families close-but-not-too-close. By "my family" I mean my parents, my two sisters, our three husbands, and all the grandkids. The current tally is 7 children ages 7 and younger, three of whom are infants.

All this just to say:

I'm from Indiana and a proud Hoosier. Woo hoo!

But I went to college in Missouri and have lived here ever since. Woo hoo!

And what people from Indiana might or might not know is that people from Missouri use "Hoosier" as a derogative term meaning "white trash" or "trailer trash" or "tacky/classless/insert other offensive term here." It's so common I think many Missourians don't even realize that "Hoosier" refers to people from Indiana, let alone that we consider the name something to be proud of.

As we drove east along Interstate 70 we came to a (apparently non-ironic) sign that read, "Hoosier Country Club." It sat in front of a trailer park. I wish we'd stopped to take a picture.

Instead: