Well, let me start by saying, it takes 2 weeks to prepare to go out of town for 2 weeks. And it takes another 2 weeks to unwind, unpack, clean up, reorganize, get back into schedule, and relax from 2 weeks "vacation". LOL
I know ya'll know what I am talking about!! RIGHT?
While in CA, we did a lot. Which means a lot of blogs. In fact, I will be blogging for the next week or so about our trip.
Today is Part 1. Enjoy
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When my little cousin, Tanya, called me and said she wanted to come out in the Spring for a visit, I was ecstatic!! I love my family and I love when they visit me here in TX (They live in Cali).
Not only was I excited... but the gears in my head started turning.
I have really wanted to go back home but Brian isn't able to take off work, and, well, flying with 2 1/2 yo twins and a 5 month old just didn't sound like fun.
Not only would I have to buy 3 plane tickets, haul 2 car seats around, and rent a vehicle BUT I would also have to push a stroller or carry the infant carrier AND keep up with the twins in busy DFW Airport.
I was having anxiety attacks just thinking about that. I mean, what would happen if I had to pee? Or we had a lay over or even better... a flight delay. Someone QUICK give me a brown paper bag!!
So flying was out but driving was definitely possible.
After talking it over with Brian... I proposed the idea to Tanya who very quickly accepted. She loves road trips so I knew this would be great. I just didn't know how great.
We left Friday, May 7. Tanya had to be back at work on May 10 so I gave us 3 days of driving if we needed it. I wanted the drive to be stress free. I did not want any unhappy campers. Plus... I really didn't want to drive at night.
We packed lunch meat, Dora Snacks, bags of froot loops, milk boxes, juice boxes, fruit, crackers, LOTS OF DIAPERS, water, hand sanitizer, veggies, peanut butter, LOTS OF WIPES and the most importantly---we packed these:
Seriously, these things are a God send!! We packed all our favorites, Nemo, Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Leapster, Dora, Diego, Blues Clues, and Thomas. For every "fun" movie they had to watch an educational movie.
And while we don't watch 12 hours straight worth of TV at home, EVER, I felt like I was doing the best I could to keep the them happy and occupied. Plus, incorporating the educational videos made me feel like they were learning as well.
We did turn the videos off while we were looking at cool terrain, like going through the mountains right before Albuquerque, NM, and looking at all the fields and trees in north west Texas. Sorry AZ and CA border... you are BORING!! LOL
They had their books in the back seat, along with some other important things
and tractors, and blankets all at arms reach.
It is very important to keep children's senses occupied. We all know their attention span is minimal so having different options around (even multiple options of the same thing) helps.
When I stopped for gas... the kids jumped around the car (it was cold outside). I made sure to dress them in very comfortable clothes. Like cotton t-shirts and cotton shorts... comfort was key.
If they had a reasonable request, I tried to accommodate it. For instance, Alex wanted french fries... so as soon as we saw a place with french fries, we stopped. Granted, it was 2 hours AFTER she asked but we were in the middle of no where.
What I did wasn't a miracle. I just simply tried to figure out what would keep the kids busy so I could pay attention to the road. Thankfully, it worked for us to and from CA (2 day drive btw)
In fact, I plan on doing the drive again!! Am I crazy... maybe. But it was totally worth it.
Does anyone have any questions on something I didn't cover or any suggestions?? Suggestions will be posted :)
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1 comments:
So, there's hope for us after all!
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