3:20 AM Michigan

Quick...What were you doing at 3:20 AM last Saturday morning?

For those of us who aren't attending college parties, I can only assume the answer would be sleeping. But alas, it turns out Erin and I still have something in common with the party crowd, albeit not on our own free will.

This past weekend we were in Peshtigo, WI again. This time under much better circumstances. Unlike the previous week when we paid our final respects to grandma Johnson, We had always planned to visit Erin's folks the 25–27.

Well very early Saturday morning, Brevin was not happy. And when I say not happy I mean, waking up at 2:17 AM scream-crying, angry at the world cause he just woke up being stuck in a Pack-N-Play in some place that was not his room while it's dark and quiet and there is some big dog named Maddie walking outside his room mad! Yea, that was Brevin. And nothing we did could make him stop crying, let alone calm down.

At first we were the concerned parents quietly asking him what's wrong and reassuring him we were here. But that quickly turned into frustration and wishing their was such a thing as a sound-proof kid kennel. What were we to do? We were afraid the airport was going to call complaining about the noise let alone what poor Kevin, De, and Danae were thinking.

Erin, running on pure mom instincts, says she's getting the car seat and we're going for a ride. At first I was thinking she meant the Jimmy Hoffa in cement shoes kinda ride but it turned out to be the loving car ride.

I can't help but wonder if all Brevin was wanting was a change of scenery, or at least some scenery that didn't involve a pitch black room. Almost as soon as he was in his car seat, he was calming down. Which ironically usually has the opposite effect.

Being that he was still crying we carried out Erin's plan and the three of us in our PJ's walked outside at 3:20 AM to go for a road trip...destination Michigan.

Later on we would find out De had looked outside to see the three of us getting into the car. When Kevin asked what was going on, De's response was classic:

"I don't know, but their all leaving."

Peshtigo Wisconsin is 45 minutes north of the heart of Packerland ie. Green Bay and only 10 minutes from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, aka, the U.P. Not growing near there, when I first started getting to know Erin, every time I heard her say "U.P.", I couldn't help but smile thinking it was the punchline to a joke a first grader would tell.

Anyway, we drove around the deserted streets of Michigan noticing what was actually open this time of day. The two business open were McDonald's and Anytime Fitness. Hmm...Coincidence? She showed me the home where her and her family briefly lived, her friends homes, and the school she attended for half a semester.

Thankfully by this time, Brevin was out. We headed back home and with ninja-like stealth, crept inside. Brevin would spend the rest of the night still buckled in his car seat, and we would spend the night with one eye open and car key's in hand ready to take another trip. Thankfully God showed mercy on us as the boy slept til 8:00AM.

Every night we pray with Brevin before saying goodnight and leaving the room. And also every night we pray Brevin sleeps through the night. Because God didn't answer our prayer in the affirmative Friday night, we now have a great appreciation for when He does answer "yes" and are sure to thank him the next morning.

—b