Packing for a Road Trip

Things are different these days. Steve and I are packing for a trip to Springfield, Illinois tomorrow for his great-niece's wedding. We plan to spend Friday night in Peoria with his mother and then we will all go to the wedding on Saturday in Springfield, where we have rooms for the night.
But tonight as we were getting things out for the trip it hit me, with a feeling of sadness, of how different things are now compared to the many years of trips we have made to Illinois with children.
It's just one of those moments when I really miss my children. I love my grown up children, but as a mom you never quite get over having those little people running around. Even when, at the time, all you can think about is "will they ever grow up???"
We used to pack up a bag for each of them with their favorites. For Rachel that always meant something good to read, maybe a puzzle book and some special treat like bubble gum tape...that could last for miles. For Mary Beth, it meant lots of "little" stuff that she could spread out and piddle around with, whether it had to do with Barbies or Legos...the more pieces the better. She usually liked to add her own snacks and was just a little bit short of becoming a classic "hoarder" that would have required intensive therapy to work through. For Greg, his bag usually had the usual boy things of jets or cars, especially any that had parts that moved. He liked chips of any kind, the spicier the better.
I would usually make a batch of Rice Krispie treats for everyone to munch on, load up a pillow for each of them and maybe even a small blanket. There was even a time before we had built in DVD players in cars that we fastened our small tv/vcr combo in for everyone to watch movies. That probably kept the children alive on many trips.
So tomorrow, Steve and I will put one suitcase and a hanging bag in the trunk of "Baby" my little sporty EOS, load up the Ipod and the Garmin, the digital camera and the gifts for the bride to be and for his mother for Christmas....and we will pull out of the driveway. And I think as we back out I will see three small children with their noses against the window of one of our old vans saying goodbye to the house for a weekend in Illinois. I should have made some Rice Krispie treats. I miss my kids.