2555 Miles Later...

We were supposed to leave last Monday morning for my parents, but the nurse urged us to stay another day and make sure the kids didn't need to get hospitalized. She pretty much confirmed that all three had the Rotavirus. This is the one time where having a germaphobic for a husband is going to pay off. He is cleaning EVERYTHING while we are gone. YAY!

Do you think we went unnoticed on this trip?





Monday night Robert's got so bad he left a puddle where he was sitting. I decided that we better just get out of there and not wait it out. I lined the car seats with waterproof pads the best I could. I went to bed at 2 and got up at 5:30 a.m. The joke of the trip is getting up at 5:30 a.m. and leaving at 9:45 a.m. I have to literally unload and reload almost the whole minivan everytime we stay somewhere because of Matthew's oxygen concentrator.

We had hoped to get to Denver (12 hr drive) the first day. LMAO! Without babies I could have. Leigha was a DREAM traveller and very helpful letting us know when my little squirt kept pulling his nasal cannula out of his nose (at least 15 times a day). My poor mother had to keep climbing over the seat to put it back in.

We made it to Grand Junction, CO the first night. The second night we spent in N. Platte, Nebraska (Julie...stick to the west side of CO if you ever make it there lol). The third day we made it to my brother's house. It was a quick trip there, just one night. I am not sure if that made my brother happy or sad, as it was definitely a handful with all of our kids, the dog, and the adults. I hadn't seen my brother and his family since Amelia was 14 months old. This was the first time we got to meet my nephew Marcus! I am not sure who has more energy, Robert or Marcus.

Poor Matthew was not a happy traveler those first few days because of his neck. His whole body would just crumbled down and his right ear was totally laying on the right shoulder. We tried to get a new car seat that would recline better, but it didn't seem any better than Leigha's old car seat. I switched Noah's car seat with Matthew's (Noah had Leigha's old one). Things are better now, he just stuck to rubbing out his nasal cannula

We got to Chicago at 6:30 p.m.and I felt so bad. We stopped at my friend Kristine's house for just a few hours. Her son Cameron is the same age as Leigha. I finally got to meet her other son Owen, who is 2 years old. Leigha ran straight for their playroom and was not happy when it was time to leave. Neither was I, I wanted more time to visit with Jamie and Kristine. I will have to try and break her from her fear of flying and get her out to Vegas soon!

Kristine, Jamie, Cameron, and Owen



My mom and I did a drive by at 10:45 pm to a friend of her's just so she could see the kids, give a hug, and then tell her they can just catch up on the phone. We decided that we would just start heading towards NC since we knew that we would not be able to do it in one day if we didn't. I drove this trip, and we hit so much traffic getting out of Chicago, that I started getting sleepy faster than I thought I would. We also hit a huge storm. We had been successful in outrunning the storm from Utah all the way to Illinois. Not anymore! We made it to Lafayette and finally had to pull over. I had bought a soft carrier for roof that is weather proof, not waterproof. The three pack and plays were pretty much ok for bedtime (well, it was 4 am). By morning, it was totally pouring. I had to remove all of the diapers up on top of the van, for fear that they would be ruined. I had to pack up everything in the pouring rain. I would have been a great entrant in a wet t-shirt contest. By the time I tried to get the three pack n plays up there, change all the straps (since I took out all of the diapers, I was a wet rat. We got back on the road and took off for my parents' house. We arrived Saturday night at 11 pm. Thank God we have 10 days before we have to repeat the trip!