First of all, before I recap the weekend, I wanted to thank you all for you kind thoughts and comments regarding my grandmother. She is still pretty sick, but I am extremely grateful that me, my husband, and the kids got to all see her again. She was pretty alert and I had a couple nice little conversations with her, which I am thankful for.
Thank you.
On Friday afternoon, around 4pm, we loaded up and headed out-of-town.
Look at the kids . . . doing great if I do say so myself . . . .
True . . . this picture was taken before we had even left town . . .
But just look at how well it is going!
I’m sure it is on account of my sweet parenting skills.
I don’t wanna brag, but I’m kind of the bomb.
Ok . . ok . . .ok.
I’m not the bomb.
20 minutes into the trip, these were the shouts of anarchy we heard from the backseat:
Interruption: Who knew that young children could be filled with such rage?
“Mom! She’s looking at me mean!”
“Mom! Her stuff’s on my side!”
“Mom! I am soooooooooooo bored.”
“Mom! When do we break for dinner?”
“Mom! She won’t share her DS!”
“Mom! When do get a snack?”
“Mom! I have to pee!”
“Mom! I’m bored!”
“Mom! Turn your music down! I can’t hear my DS!”
“Mom! Where are we going?”
“Mom! Can we go swimming?”
“Mom! Truck bye-bye big bishie bye-bye in da wah-wer!”
That would be the 2 year old.
“Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. MoMoNoNoNoNo. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”
That would be the 1 year old.
Don’t be jealous of my boys’ brilliant early language skills.
Perhaps, if you are so lucky, one day I will post about my sweet early language lessons so your children can be as brilliant as mine.
Until then, you will just have to come to terms with the fact that my boys are ahead of yours.
Deal with it.
So, the Lumberjack is all about making good time.
So, I had to resort to limiting my fluid-intake so as to not frazzle him or upset him in any way.
And I still had to ask him to stop three times.
Yes.
I failed him.
To make up for lost time, he decided we should have everyone eat dinner in the car.
For the first time.
Ever.
Oh, joy.
So, I got to sit in the backseat between the two dudes and help them eat their dinner.
Now this, gentle readers, was a treat.
And I got to stress about how the Lumberjack was going to eat a salad and drive us safely to our destination.
Of course on the night he is drive-eating he gets a notion to eat healthy and chooses a salad.
Cheeseburger, Lumberjack.
Cheeseburger.
Any-who . . . as I was searching for the FM modulator (FM-who? Exactly.) for Sir Salad, I came across these
bullets.
I guess you never do know when you are going to need a spare bullet.
I can’t, for the life of me, get him to put one of those ice-scraper thingies in my car.
But bullets, he remembers.
Weird, Lumberjack.
Weird.
Right after we ate, guess what happened?
The good news is, 3 kids slept for 3 hours.
Can you guess what the bad news was?
This.
This was the bad news.
Yes.
Handsome Dude’s pajamas are on backwards.
He prides himself on dressing himself.
And we are too tired to care anymore.
And, yes.
This fun lasted from the hours of 10:30pm-12:30am.
I am certain that the other hotel patrons loved us.
Oh, yes.
Loved us.
We may or may not have given 2 out of 4 children a small dose of Benadryl.
Don’t judge.
You would do it, too.
Alright. So, on to Saturday.
Now, on Saturday, we were first to meet up with the Lumberjack’s little brother, Jason.
Do you all remember Jason?
Now, Jason lives in the very same exact town as we do.
Yet, why are we meeting up with him two states away?
Hmmm . . . . interesting.
I told you my in-laws are weird.
So, Jason wants us to go to this REI sale with him.
Yes.
Does not REI sound like the store of my dreams?
So, we MapQuest it, cause we are technologically hip like that, and we head off to meet Jason.
Two states away.
Who we see weekly in our hometown.
Interruption: Can we not all agree that Handsome Dude is such a precious little dude? I mean look at him.
Cowboy boots?
Check.
Horsie?
Check.
Glasses?
Check and hallelujah!
Precious boy pointing at big manly man truck?
Check.
Now, this REI had parking in a parking garage.
Raise your hand if you drive any sort of large van, SUV, or truck.
Are not parking garages the most terrifying beasts you can encounter while driving in such large rigs?
Am I the only one who ducks the entire time?
We are not certain if our rig was technically too big for this particular parking garage.
Thoughts?
So, anyways, we walk around REI for some time and we do not find Jason.
Remember Jason?
Oh, I crack myself up.
So we call him.
Turns out we are the wrong REI.
Silly us.
Who knew a city could have more than one?
So, we find him and all is well.
Now, back in the days of old, I wrote a post recapping a camping trip.
I mentioned that on this particular camping trip, my mother-in-law informed Jason that it was about time he “got a honey.”
Attention Mother-in-Law:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Jason!
You silly boy, you!
That’s why you are so far from home!
You got a honey!
Yay!
And, her name is Amy and we enjoyed her company thoroughly.
And she didn’t even seem horrified or overwhelmed by our crazy offspring.
She’s a keeper!
So, we did a lot of visiting with my grandma and other relatives who live in that region.
It was lovely and fun and we had a grand time.
I, however, neglected to take pictures of such events.
I know, I know.
Boo, Taylor.
Boo.
I did, however, remember to take pictures of us going through the car wash.
Why?
Because it scared the bajibbers out of my boys that’s why!
And, personally, I found it to be hilarious.
Is that bad?
And, in conclusion, here are just a few more random shots from our quick road trip:
Yes.
We pride ourselves on a tidy hotel room.
Now that’s just cute.
Can we please stop and have a moment of applause for Handsome Dude?
Handsome Dude did not lose his glasses once during the course of this adventure.
Hooray, Handsome Dude!
Hooray!
BOOOOORRRREEEEEEDDDOOOMM.
Wait a tick!
Those two kids look strangely like Handsome Dude and Daisy Mae!
Have they been lumberjackling-napped?
I kid!
I jest!
Those fine folks are my parents and they offered to take on half the crew for bit.
Foolish idea, Mom and Dad.
Foolish.
Sweet Pea helping Little Dude watch a video.
Precious to my heart.
Well, that concludes this edition of Weekend Update!
Hope you all had wonderful weekends!
Later, Dudes!
Glad your home and that things went well.
so glad you made it back safely!! I love how the boys are looking at car ads! 🙂 And next time, borrow our DS so the girls each have one. And oh yeah, there is nothing worse then trying to get kids to sleep in a hotel room!!!! Benadryl can be a lifesaver!
LOL…you crack me up. I can sooooo relate to you, except with one less kid.
I am not a health care professional but I do advocate doses of Benedryl in the appropriate situations. Which include traveling and hotel rooms and just when you want the whiner to go to sleep… 🙂
I love that most of your pictures are in the car : )
Sometimes a situation calls for benadryl.
Glad you were able to make the trip and spend some time with your grandmother.
My kids were under the impression that they had very stuffy noses for much of their toddlerhood. Benadryl is one of the food groups as far as I’m concerned.
Benadryl is awesome! Not that I would ever do that to my sweet adorable kiddos. ;o) Keeping your grandmother is my thoughts & prayers.
You are a brave, brave, woman. 4 kids on a long car trip. So brave. I bow to you, O Great One. Glad G-ma is doing okay. Really glad you are back home!
I think after that you probably need to go back to Cancun.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/182-3344152-7939926?asin=B000FED7Y2&AFID=Froogle_df&LNM=|B000FED7Y2&CPNG=home%20decor&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001
hugs and prayers for grandma!!
i love your stories!! too funny!! anyway, thought i’d link you to my giveaway post so you can enter if you want!! 🙂 cause i’m thoughtful like that 😉
http://blog-diggidy.com/index.php/2010/03/giveaway-giveaway-2/
I just have to “lol” at the car wash pic, Ashlyn does the same thing, she hates it and I laugh… then I feel bad… lol.
Anyways, glad you are back safe and things are going well.
My kids used to be scared of the car wash, now they beg to go!
Benadryl is always a good idea!!!
I had no idea your boys were so exceptionally smart!
I like exclamation points!!!!!!!
You are the bomb!
Glad the trip went well. So sorry about your grandma though, I will keep her in my prayers.
This should be a “not me” post and then I could say “and I would never encourage the use of benadryl to aid in sleep, no, not me” 🙂
Eliana screams in the car wash, too. She is terrified! And Mike was horrified that I knew that it scared her and didn’t tell him when he went through the wash for her second time. Nice job, Mom! See? You have some steep competition.
Glad you are home, safe, and with glasses intact. And I’m glad for the time you had with your Grandma. That is priceless.
I think I have been on almost that exact trip. I always have these great visions of how a road trip would be “so fun” and “an adventure”…the kids will keep the memories forever….I just hope they don’t remember all the things I yell and do and the fact that their dad does not let mommy stop to go potty…I think he’s even offered me a cup or container of some sort as to avoid an unnecessary stop.
Sorry to hear about Grandma. I know how much that stinks….. Glad you were able to make the trip to see her as I think that always helps everyone.
As far as Benadryl – Isn’t that what it is made for? lol Maybe I should check the label.
Kids look like did good for the trip (minus the car wash). Traveling with little ones is always so much fun. I remember when I drove to Florida with my mom and my boys. Little guy was only 1 1/2 at the time. I had to drive him around the parking lot to get him to go to sleep because he was just screaming WAY too much for a hotel room. Good times. lol
You obviously need the leap frog “bubble wash” toy that goes on your fridge. It sings a joyful song:
Car in the bubble wash
Car in the bubble wash
Splish
Splosh
Dirty Dirt Squash
CAR in the buuuuuble wash.
I would loan Prince Charming’s bubble wash toy to you, but he like to chase me around the kitchen with it. I would miss the song terribly.
So glad you got to go. I love road trips!! We’re heading to Oregon for my brother, Taylor’s wedding at the end of the month. Yay!
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