The Carpool

It's true. We're a carpool family. We kind of have to be, what with Jem's school being so far from our home. It's 20 minutes on a good day, but on a day with traffic...well...it's not a fun drive. We have been fortunate to share the driving responsibility with another NCA family - a family that has become very dear to me after 3 years of travelling to and from school together. I'm sad to say though, that this may be our last year of carpooling with the Conklin kids. It's our cars, you see. Both Brandon's and mine. They only seat 3. And the Conklins have one more little guy who is starting Kindergarten next year. Unless he lays flat in the trunk (and I'm not sure how well that would go over with Jen and Zack), we'll be one seat short next year. Hence no more carpooling. *Sigh* It's the end of an era.


Brandon loves to joke around with the girls. He likes to say "Brooke said...." and then tell a whopper, all the while Brooke is in the back vehemently denying she said it. It's all good fun. I'll miss driving the girls in the morning and playing our games. "I'm thinking of an animal that starts with the letter.......Z! And you have 3 guesses Miss Cathy!". It's been good for Jem too. When we first started carpooling Jen said that he would be scared of the noise in the Conklin car. He's an only child. He wasn't used to "noise" LOL. Now he's a seasoned pro. It's been a good social environment for him. Zoe and Brooke have become almost like sisters to him. At least they sometimes bicker like they're brothers and sisters :) I'll really miss carpooling. It's been a wonderful experience. However what I won't miss is THIS. The traffic on the way home. On those rare days that Brandon has me pick the kids up and we get stuck on I-5. Crawling our way to Marysville. Stopping. Starting. Inching closer. Stopping some more. Nope, I won't miss that. But these faces in the picture below? I'll miss them. Truly.

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