Or, I used to hate road trips
There's nothing quite like a booster shot of super-mommy-ness to my ego other than two - count 'em, two - successful 11 hour road trip journeys with my two kids. Now I'm not suggesting that anyone else channel their inner mommy diva by hopping in the car and driving 600+ miles, but it worked for me.
Maybe a time or two I've doubted my mommy instinct, and doubted my children's ability to bounce back from a routine change (late naps or bedtime) or dietary indiscretion (processed food). I was so afraid they may melt down into a weeping pile of toddler-infant-babyGap-drool-and-snot on the floor. Rational me knows that is not going to happen.* Irrational me watches the clock and has more than once removed forks from hands mid-bite when we are approaching bedtime and are away from home. (Tell me I'm not the only one...)
Dear Self, doubt no more!
We got back from vacation number one: Lake Michigan (where it's like the beach but better - fresh water, little waves and no crabs, stingrays, sharks or other digit/limb removing creatures) and I had been thinking about driving the kids down to see my parents in Florida. With clean laundry, beach accessories, snacks and the double BOB already packed, we hit the road. Once we were on our way at 6:30am I knew we were locked in. I tried to quiet that little voice of doubt in the back of my mind; and quiet it did.
It was the perfect age for both of them. Sophie is so dialed into tv and movies that she had zero qualms about watching the screen for an entire day. Tucker is no longer nursing, so bottles were really easy to mix and administer. He's also just starting to worm around on the floor, so he isn't an anxious-I-want-to-run-everywhere toddler yet. (Although he is a oh-you-thought-your-floors-were-clean-watch-me-worm-around-and-then-check-my-onesie type of kid these days.)
All of our food and drink was packed for the day, so stops were mainly about gas, bottles, diapers and stretching our legs (as if we needed yet another great reason to delay potty training until 13 years old). We played on QSR playgrounds and rocked on the porch at Cracker Barrel and stopped about every three hours.
Our road trip was SO uneventful. Blissful, even. Tucker might make a peep every so often, but Sophie was quick to make a funny face or "speak whale" to make him giggle. Sophie watched Finding Nemo FOUR times on our return trip (where she learned to speak whale). Three stops on our way down south and two stops on the way back to KY.
Speaking of the return trip... I have a family member that once told me she used her daughters diapers to thwart extra stops if baby was sleeping but el baño was calling. Let me just tell you that a size four diaper does not accommodate the bladder of a 31 year old adult.
And that's all you need to know about 22 hours in the car with my kids.
*I'll still defend my nap/sleep/dietary choices as the number one reason why I have happy children 95% of the day.
Photos from our Florida trip. Not pictured: Tucker's first tooth, delicious, fresh shrimp and oysters, yummy burgers, Peg Leg Pete grouper sandwiches, infamous Brussells sprouts, a trip to the children's museum and six days of shake-the-house thunder, lightening and rain.
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| Girl loves some bubbles. |
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| I really just take pictures of this swim suit because I think it's so cute. Going to sell it soon though :( |
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| Happiest Baby on the Block. |
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| Yaya and her babies. |
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| Sophie and her Avengers "swim-a-ring" |
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| Girl's got some hops. |
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| Sweet thing. |
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| I mean, this is not an act. 90% of her day is spent loving Tucker. |
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| Beach bum. |
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| Yes, the sun actually came out. |
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| Sir splash-a-lot and Yaya. |
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| Case and point. |
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| Tucker's model face. Those lips! |
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| "You would have more fun with wet sand on your face." |
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| New towel from Yaya's friend, Peggy! (Her handmade creations are adorable, yall.) |
