On Tuesday morning, May 29, we left for our 2200 mile car trip. In some ways it was much easier, but not as easy as I was anticipating. Last year Matthew was on oxygen. He was constantly pulling it out of his nose. We would have to lean over the seat and try to put it back in. His car seat was also rear facing. He didn't have the trunk strength to have his car seat turned around like his brothers. Matthew missed out on watching the videos. He is now my biggest TV junkie! He LOVES watching the videos in the van this year.
Last year the boys were taking bottles and baby food. I thought this year would be easier. Only Matthew is still on baby food and he can drink his own bottle. However, stopping for food took a lot longer! One of our stops was at Chuck E. Cheese! This might sound crazy, but the kids really needed to get out and run around for awhile. Can you think of a better place? It was Leigha's idea, she saw the sign!
Robert is proof that it is not time to give up the bibs yet!
Noah has something against using plates. He moves everything off of the plate and onto the table. I finally gave up!
Matthew enjoyed cleaning up the table. Just hand him a wipe or napkin and he will stay busy for a long time.
Grandma was able to experience the roller coaster ride with Leigha. I think it would have been a better idea to ride on it BEFORE eating, not after!
Robert and Noah were stomping on spiders most of the time.
Matthew loved all of the bright lights.
The kids were so excited to see the hotels each night. As soon as they saw the room opened, they would start giggling in their seats. This was definitely the best part of the road trip for them. They were everywhere! Just like last year, we brought three pack n'plays for the boys to sleep in. They had no problems with them last year. THIS YEAR WAS DIFFERENT! The boys had a blast in them. They were throwing blankets between their beds, giggling, and even trying to change the channels on the TV.
Then the lights went down. Robert FREAKED out! He is having a bit of separation anxiety and he wouldn't stop crying. I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep, thinking he would eventually lie down. I was wrong. My mom told me that he did everything in his power to keep himself awake and standing. He hugged the corner of the pack n'play and just stared at me. He stood on his tip toes so that he could lean over and get a better grip. He pinched his cheeks to keep himself from falling asleep. The list could go on. My mom wished she had a video camera. She said we could have won the $100k from America's Funniest Videos if we turned that in. I finally caved in and brought him to my bed. Two nights in a row he was scared to death, so the third night I didn't even bother setting up his bed. He just climbed right up into the bed with Leigha and me.
On the third day we stopped at a rest stop. I have discovered that you really need to wait until you are in the midwest to find a decent rest stop. First of all, they are almost non-existant in the desert areas. Then, when you do find one, it's horrible! Just not a place where you would want your kids running around. We got stuck in construction hell, so once we got through it, it was a perfect time to let them get some energy out.
Unfortunately, I left Matthew's scooter there. I had picked him up and walked him over to the car. I then proceeded to pack up the rest of the kids. It was hot and humid so I just climbed in the car and relaxed. It wasn't until an hour later that I realized I never brought it in the car. Needless to say, we stopped at Walmart and bought a duplicate one. You wouldn't have even known, except this one has FRESH batteries in it (ugh!).
The kids really did a great job on the road trip. We were on the road for four days. They watched The Laurie Berkner Band, Singing Times, and Shrek more times that I can remember. They had toys between them; they only fought over them a few times. Leigha was a wonderful big sister. She would pass toys to anyone who couldn't reach them, and she even passed her Barbie Laptop Computer around (although that caused the first fight between Robert and Noah!). I was very pleased with all of them!
Matthew getting his turn on Leigha's computer.
Noah
Leigha, the best big sister!
Robert was the best traveler of the boys. He never fussed at all and he was smiling 90% of his awake time. However, playing with toes is serious business, so no smiles here!
We left Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. We pulled into Asheville, NC around 6 p.m. on Friday. Just think of next year...I won't have to pack the portable cribs, booster seats, or maybe even the stroller!
Stay tuned to find out why I called our road trip a walk in the park. It was the easy part of this trip...
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1 comment:
You are a brave woman, Cathy!!! I loved reading this post. Sounds like things went amazingly well, considering.
So does this mean you'll continue co-sleeping?
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