Road trip.

When the kids were younger, we'd make the two hour drive to my mom's.  Once we were happy on the road, I'd check with the kids to make sure that they were okay and then I'd crank the music and sing along, very loudly, while they distracted themselves with books and games.  Singing passed the driving time for me and had the added bonus of blocking out the sound of them yelling at each other.  (I've since been informed that while I was singing the kids tried to tell me that I was bugging them.  See?  That's why it was important to turn it up loud and sing even louder.) 

With Peter away for almost two weeks, I needed to find something to do for Easter weekend, something to distract us from missing him.

A road trip to visit family was just the thing.

Four hours in a car loaded with iPods for the kids, CDs for me, and food for all.  We couldn't possibly need anything else.

It turns out that we didn't even need all that.

Juliana plugged in her iPod.  And then my girl who doesn't like to sing in front of anyone started to belt out the tunes - Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Black Eyed Peas, Michael Buble, Bruno Mars, and more Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.  When I recognized the song, I sang along.  

It wasn't until she was reaching the 90 minute mark that she started to fade.  Her singing got quieter and I honestly thought that, like she often does at bedtime, she was going to sing herself to sleep.

We really need to boost her singing stamina because I could have listened to that sweet voice all night.