No it's not that bad! Lol We wanted to start out early this morning so we could get some hours under our belt. So the amazing driver set his alarm for 6am and worked on getting us all unplugged and buttoned up as quietly as possible. The big boys have to move back to our bed since we have to put their bed back up. It comes down over the driver and passenger seats. So once I realized I was the last adult in bed {you see I made these black-out curtains for our room and wow they are ahhhhmazing!} I hustled myself up to help get us on the road. I was actually really looking forward to the quiet time we might have right off the bat. However one child wanted to stay sleeping on the couch and not move to our bed and the other child who did go to our bed was back up at the front within 15 minutes of hitting the highway. Guess they thought they were going to miss out on all the exciting action at 7.15am! lol Oh wait - it is our family so I guess that is a real possibility. Actually I know what they were thinking....
Yep - they've got the first stop of the day figured out too. They wanted to be sure they were awake and alert enough to ask if they could participate in the morning's ritual. Okay so 'ritual' does sound a little extreme. Actually we brought coffee beans along with us and we both really enjoy the french press coffee that we make ourselves with steamed milk and foam. However on this particular morning, neither one of us was going to risk grinding beans and heating up cream before 7am when we were taking off. So there definitely will be a time and place where our morning 'ritual' takes place in the comfort of our own home. And the big boys also know that they are never guaranteed participation in the morning ritual. You have to go through initiation of adult-hood (i.e.. your own INCOME!) to be guaranteed a Starbucks when mom & dad choose to have one.
But on this particular morning we had to hold out for our morning ritual. There was a Starbucks in the town we were pulling out of, but stopping while the littles are getting close to waking up is a risk we didn't want to take. Plus it might have entailed back tracking a bit, which doesn't happen lightly when you are privileged enough to have our driver! lol ;) So forward and onward we headed hoping there would be a bucks in the next fairly large city. Please let me clarify - a REAL bucks - grocery stores do NOT count as REAL bucks (see last years long dicertatcion about the differences! lol). So I pulled out my trusty map to look up the Starbucks in the next city - okay it was just my phone - and guess what? THREE hours away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh heavens, we might have a mutiny on our hands. But what to do but trudge along...
The big boys did end up falling back asleep in their up-front positions, one not so comfortable, so we did have a little piece and quiet for a bit. You'll have to excuse my froggy brain of this morning since I didn't have a lot of nourishment, okay caffeine, to keep me on my game. And about half way to our most pertinent stop, Mr Chauffeur asks if we even have any leftover coffee I could get him!?! I said I would check. And we actually did.... yes, despite our morning ritual we even drink our own leftover coffee. lol You can't waste something like that.
{IMPORTANT CAVEAT.... we would never serve leftover coffee to a guest in either the rolling tin can OR our house on the ground - just fyi! So you can still feel comfortable coming over and being served a nice cup of fresh hot coffee!}
HOWEVER, when I say leftover, this is leftover from what we made at our house last before we left on Day One - take 2!!!! So it's really leftover! But I guess he's THAT desperate. Now is when the real fun begins and I'm so sorry I don't have a photo to show you of it so use your imagination. I now have one little up and out of bed so I'm getting that one some breakfast. And somehow he's going from sweet delightful morning-snuggle-bug to demanding not-so-cute-toddler in a matter of minutes. YIPEEE!!!!! Back to the driver's coffee.... so we can run the microwave while we are driving if we turn on the generator. Because you know we might do leftovers, but cold coffee is certainly NOT an option for the driver. lol However, we are missing a part to our microwave (don't ask how or when or why please) that helps the turn table go around. Just go with me here.... so the turn table turns, but it's only propelled by a piece in the very center of the plate. Okay the bottom line is that besides the very center of the turn table every other place on it is wobbly, maybe like a kid's top (toy). That's not so bad when we are parked but when we are driving you run the risk of your item in the microwave slipping off of center [IE. A GLASS COFFEE MUG!!!!]. Oh and not to mention we were going down not the smoothest highway in the world. So I'm standing guard at the microwave to open the door and save the sliding coffee, if necessary, while the 2nd little is calling to get out of bed {like NOW mom!}. So I'm trying to tell my sweet precious baby girl that I will be right there to get her while mentally hurrying along the timer on the microwave. I think it made it till like 18 seconds left and there it slid!!!! That was just going to have to be hot enough for the driver, huh!?! And yes, it did slop on the inside of the microwave. So I quickly cleaned up my mess, poured some cream & sugar in his coffee and put on my server's apron with a towel over my arm to deliver it to the front of the tin can. Phew..... thanks for sticking with me on that. I think he drank the whole cup in one swallow, from which I deduce.... A) he REALLY needed his caffeine, B) that was a big sacrifice on my part, couldn't he at least have taken 5 minutes to drink the whole cup?, C) what about mine? Oh wait - no time for thinking 'C,' I'm sure there was a sippy cup of milk to be refilled, an apple to be cut or a diaper to be changed. And then there's the big boys.... 'mom, can you play chess with me?' To which I reply, 'Oh sure son, I'd love to! Let's just lock the littles in the bathroom and ignore them!' lol {joke! don't go calling the authorities on me!}
Okay, I digress, where were we now....
The hallelujah chorus was heard 5 states away when we finally pulled up to this...
I think everyone was suffering the lack of caffeine by the time we arrived, there wasn't one shred of sibling rivalry, or toddler tears or complaining or whining AT.ALL. Oh goodness it was only 11am on day 3! Do you guys believe in intercessory prayer? If not, could you just try it for my sake! lol ;P I'm totally {partly?} kidding! We really do have the time of our lives on these trips. See look, everyone is happy as a clam...
After the Starbucks in Laramie, WY we headed down the highway and this gorgeous church was standing so tall and proud against the backdrop of the hills. I tried to snap a quick photo of it, but it doesn't nearly do it justice.
So some of you might be wondering what the kids do all day long while we are driving and here's one quick photo I snapped for you today. The Dollar Store has been my best friend in preparing for this trip. Here Esther is putting stickers on a note pad. Yep, it's the simple things and SHE gets to be in charge of what stickers go where! lol ;) That's just one of the many activities we do to fill the long driving days.
Somewhere along the way, it came up, okay I think I mistakenly offered, to drive. Yes, I have driven the tin can before but it definitely takes focused concentration. I doubted that the driver would say YES, but he did. I can't reveal to you HOW we switched but we did and everyone lived to tell about it. ;)
NOW the story can begin.... all in all I ended up driving about half the day. Here's what I did during that time, request a podcast be put on and drive! Oh ya, we stopped for gas in North Platte, NE and I was a little crooked pulling up to the gas pump. But other than that, that's the extent of my afternoon. You know, now that I think about it, I might have accidentally cut one car off switching lanes but that was at dusk and it was a total accident.
NOW Kevin (no longer 'driver'), on the other hand, had a very full and exciting afternoon! lol {YES - read between the lines!} He thought he was going to get a nice relaxing, pleasurable afternoon to lounge around the rolling living room as I did the heavy-lifting driving! :O Oh heavens, if everyone wasn't sleeping right now, I would belly laugh right with you! Can you see where this is going?
~ Dad can you play chess with me?
~ Dad can I have a cookie? Oh, I want one too!
~ I'm thirsty!
~ Esther has a poop!!!!
~ Can we play legos on your bed?
~ Can we eat a 7 course meal on your bed?
~ I want to color.
~ Where's my stickers?
~ I want OUT!
~ She's taking my toy!
~ He's playing with MY legos - No I'm not!!!!
~ I am hungry.
~ When are we stopping next?
~ Can we watch a movie?
Are you with me here? lol I just waved from the drivers seat, focusing on my 10/2 hand position with a GIANT grin on my face! At some point I think I actually heard him flop in the passengers seat, point at me and mutter something about 'driving is the easiest job in this place!' Oh it was great! So guess what, I drove and drove and drove and drove and drove some more! lol He rocked it being the back-of-the-house parent, changing diapers (LARGE bowel movements too! - I know you wanted to know that! lol), helping the other do his business on the toilet without falling in! All while I'm trying to keep it as steady and smooth as possible - I really was, I promise! ;)
We finally pulled up to dinner at a Panera Bread in Kearny, NE and all enjoyed the excuse to exit the cabin using the side exit (after we put our trays in the upright position). I parked the tin can in a great spot but was dared that getting out of said spot would have to be handled by the driver. Pssshaaa.... nothing a 12 point turn can't handle. This girl got us out of the parking spot and back on the road in no time.
Alright, it's 8 hours into Chicago tomorrow where we are so excited to see Kevin's mom, her husband and Kevin's sister and family.
Hopefully tomorrow I can remember to tell you about the challenge we gave our big boys for this trip...
PS. No more puking! Must have been a one time thing! Phew.... I'm glad that didn't continue!
But on this particular morning we had to hold out for our morning ritual. There was a Starbucks in the town we were pulling out of, but stopping while the littles are getting close to waking up is a risk we didn't want to take. Plus it might have entailed back tracking a bit, which doesn't happen lightly when you are privileged enough to have our driver! lol ;) So forward and onward we headed hoping there would be a bucks in the next fairly large city. Please let me clarify - a REAL bucks - grocery stores do NOT count as REAL bucks (see last years long dicertatcion about the differences! lol). So I pulled out my trusty map to look up the Starbucks in the next city - okay it was just my phone - and guess what? THREE hours away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh heavens, we might have a mutiny on our hands. But what to do but trudge along...
The big boys did end up falling back asleep in their up-front positions, one not so comfortable, so we did have a little piece and quiet for a bit. You'll have to excuse my froggy brain of this morning since I didn't have a lot of nourishment, okay caffeine, to keep me on my game. And about half way to our most pertinent stop, Mr Chauffeur asks if we even have any leftover coffee I could get him!?! I said I would check. And we actually did.... yes, despite our morning ritual we even drink our own leftover coffee. lol You can't waste something like that.
{IMPORTANT CAVEAT.... we would never serve leftover coffee to a guest in either the rolling tin can OR our house on the ground - just fyi! So you can still feel comfortable coming over and being served a nice cup of fresh hot coffee!}
HOWEVER, when I say leftover, this is leftover from what we made at our house last before we left on Day One - take 2!!!! So it's really leftover! But I guess he's THAT desperate. Now is when the real fun begins and I'm so sorry I don't have a photo to show you of it so use your imagination. I now have one little up and out of bed so I'm getting that one some breakfast. And somehow he's going from sweet delightful morning-snuggle-bug to demanding not-so-cute-toddler in a matter of minutes. YIPEEE!!!!! Back to the driver's coffee.... so we can run the microwave while we are driving if we turn on the generator. Because you know we might do leftovers, but cold coffee is certainly NOT an option for the driver. lol However, we are missing a part to our microwave (don't ask how or when or why please) that helps the turn table go around. Just go with me here.... so the turn table turns, but it's only propelled by a piece in the very center of the plate. Okay the bottom line is that besides the very center of the turn table every other place on it is wobbly, maybe like a kid's top (toy). That's not so bad when we are parked but when we are driving you run the risk of your item in the microwave slipping off of center [IE. A GLASS COFFEE MUG!!!!]. Oh and not to mention we were going down not the smoothest highway in the world. So I'm standing guard at the microwave to open the door and save the sliding coffee, if necessary, while the 2nd little is calling to get out of bed {like NOW mom!}. So I'm trying to tell my sweet precious baby girl that I will be right there to get her while mentally hurrying along the timer on the microwave. I think it made it till like 18 seconds left and there it slid!!!! That was just going to have to be hot enough for the driver, huh!?! And yes, it did slop on the inside of the microwave. So I quickly cleaned up my mess, poured some cream & sugar in his coffee and put on my server's apron with a towel over my arm to deliver it to the front of the tin can. Phew..... thanks for sticking with me on that. I think he drank the whole cup in one swallow, from which I deduce.... A) he REALLY needed his caffeine, B) that was a big sacrifice on my part, couldn't he at least have taken 5 minutes to drink the whole cup?, C) what about mine? Oh wait - no time for thinking 'C,' I'm sure there was a sippy cup of milk to be refilled, an apple to be cut or a diaper to be changed. And then there's the big boys.... 'mom, can you play chess with me?' To which I reply, 'Oh sure son, I'd love to! Let's just lock the littles in the bathroom and ignore them!' lol {joke! don't go calling the authorities on me!}
Okay, I digress, where were we now....
The hallelujah chorus was heard 5 states away when we finally pulled up to this...
I think everyone was suffering the lack of caffeine by the time we arrived, there wasn't one shred of sibling rivalry, or toddler tears or complaining or whining AT.ALL. Oh goodness it was only 11am on day 3! Do you guys believe in intercessory prayer? If not, could you just try it for my sake! lol ;P I'm totally {partly?} kidding! We really do have the time of our lives on these trips. See look, everyone is happy as a clam...
After the Starbucks in Laramie, WY we headed down the highway and this gorgeous church was standing so tall and proud against the backdrop of the hills. I tried to snap a quick photo of it, but it doesn't nearly do it justice.
So some of you might be wondering what the kids do all day long while we are driving and here's one quick photo I snapped for you today. The Dollar Store has been my best friend in preparing for this trip. Here Esther is putting stickers on a note pad. Yep, it's the simple things and SHE gets to be in charge of what stickers go where! lol ;) That's just one of the many activities we do to fill the long driving days.
Somewhere along the way, it came up, okay I think I mistakenly offered, to drive. Yes, I have driven the tin can before but it definitely takes focused concentration. I doubted that the driver would say YES, but he did. I can't reveal to you HOW we switched but we did and everyone lived to tell about it. ;)
NOW the story can begin.... all in all I ended up driving about half the day. Here's what I did during that time, request a podcast be put on and drive! Oh ya, we stopped for gas in North Platte, NE and I was a little crooked pulling up to the gas pump. But other than that, that's the extent of my afternoon. You know, now that I think about it, I might have accidentally cut one car off switching lanes but that was at dusk and it was a total accident.
NOW Kevin (no longer 'driver'), on the other hand, had a very full and exciting afternoon! lol {YES - read between the lines!} He thought he was going to get a nice relaxing, pleasurable afternoon to lounge around the rolling living room as I did the heavy-lifting driving! :O Oh heavens, if everyone wasn't sleeping right now, I would belly laugh right with you! Can you see where this is going?
~ Dad can you play chess with me?
~ Dad can I have a cookie? Oh, I want one too!
~ I'm thirsty!
~ Esther has a poop!!!!
~ Can we play legos on your bed?
~ Can we eat a 7 course meal on your bed?
~ I want to color.
~ Where's my stickers?
~ I want OUT!
~ She's taking my toy!
~ He's playing with MY legos - No I'm not!!!!
~ I am hungry.
~ When are we stopping next?
~ Can we watch a movie?
Are you with me here? lol I just waved from the drivers seat, focusing on my 10/2 hand position with a GIANT grin on my face! At some point I think I actually heard him flop in the passengers seat, point at me and mutter something about 'driving is the easiest job in this place!' Oh it was great! So guess what, I drove and drove and drove and drove and drove some more! lol He rocked it being the back-of-the-house parent, changing diapers (LARGE bowel movements too! - I know you wanted to know that! lol), helping the other do his business on the toilet without falling in! All while I'm trying to keep it as steady and smooth as possible - I really was, I promise! ;)
We finally pulled up to dinner at a Panera Bread in Kearny, NE and all enjoyed the excuse to exit the cabin using the side exit (after we put our trays in the upright position). I parked the tin can in a great spot but was dared that getting out of said spot would have to be handled by the driver. Pssshaaa.... nothing a 12 point turn can't handle. This girl got us out of the parking spot and back on the road in no time.
We drove to our destination for the night, Lincoln, NE and pulled into our spot that the (now) co-pilot found for us AFTER he got the littles to bed - I tell ya, that job never ends. And no, that should tell you, we don't generally plan our stops ahead of time since we don't know how far we'll get in a day. Because as we know important things pop up like Michaels, of course Starbucks, Staples (I didn't tell ya about that one! lol), Costco and oh so much more....
As I'm in bed typing out the rest of the day for you, and Kevin is reading, we hear a thud. Son #2 wanted to sleep on the couch tonight, but I guess during his REM he must've thought the floor was better!?! We just laughed and laughed back in our bedroom as we knew exactly what had happened. Kevin went to help him back up onto the couch but he was still asleep on the floor! He probably wouldn't have minded staying there all night. Kevin thinks it will happen again tonight so I told him to be sure and grab a photo of him on the floor when it happens (FYI... I intend to be sleeping!) but until the next fall, I finally remembered to give you a visual!
As I'm in bed typing out the rest of the day for you, and Kevin is reading, we hear a thud. Son #2 wanted to sleep on the couch tonight, but I guess during his REM he must've thought the floor was better!?! We just laughed and laughed back in our bedroom as we knew exactly what had happened. Kevin went to help him back up onto the couch but he was still asleep on the floor! He probably wouldn't have minded staying there all night. Kevin thinks it will happen again tonight so I told him to be sure and grab a photo of him on the floor when it happens (FYI... I intend to be sleeping!) but until the next fall, I finally remembered to give you a visual!
(He didn't end up falling out of bed again but did get up sleep walking at 4am and tried to get into bed with his little brother. Kevin heard the door to the bunks open and found Tate trying to crawl in with Reed. Lol What's funny is that he didn't remember a thing about it in the morning!)
Alright, it's 8 hours into Chicago tomorrow where we are so excited to see Kevin's mom, her husband and Kevin's sister and family.
Hopefully tomorrow I can remember to tell you about the challenge we gave our big boys for this trip...
PS. No more puking! Must have been a one time thing! Phew.... I'm glad that didn't continue!
No comments:
Post a Comment