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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Random Tuesday Thoughts



Due to a series of uncontrollable events, I agreed to return with Husband on a minivan drive back to Florida – 27 hours of driving time, with a 7mo and 2 year old - instead of my regularly scheduled flight on Tuesday.

Day 1 – Tuesday
This was not a productive day in terms of driving time; somehow we managed to leave Odessa, TX at 2pm!!!
• We woke up at 5:30am, left Mema’s at 8:30am.
• Job required me to do some critical work so we stopped at a Starbucks to download email then went to husband’s grandparents for a final visit while I did the 2 hours of work.
• Back to Starbucks to send email.
• Stop at Target for some last minute trip necessities
• By then it was 1pm, time to feed the kids and eat lunch so we stopped at Chick Fil A and let Charlotte play while I fed Sam
• 1:45 get gas
• 2pm finally leave!

We drove 3 hours and stopped for an hour to feed Sam, walk the dog, let Charlotte play and eat. I can’t even begin to tell you how it took an hour!

6pm – 7:30 – non-stop driving, finally reach Dallas!

8pm – next stop for gas, snack and feed kids. We don’t even stop for dinner to save time, snacks are more than adequate at this point.

So HOW are the children doing with their first long car ride?

Sam started the trip with a half hour crying spell, he craned his entire body to see me in the front seat and begged me to hold him. He just wanted to be rocked to sleep, so I just held his hand until he calmed down. Other than that, he’s slept for most of the day and when awake makes motorboat noises and bats at his new toys! We’ve fed him every 3 hours and this seems to keep him happy.

Charlotte’s been entertained with a rotation of iPhone games and SpongeBob along with DVD’s on my laptop which we set up a fake consul by way of file box. Surprisingly she’s been less into the DVD’s than I thought. She’s happier with her little hand held entertainment.

It’s 9pm now, husband seems bound to reach Shreveport, LA which would make our day 9 hours of driving time. It’s another 150 miles away! I think I married my dad!!!

6 comments:

VandyJ said...

Good luck. All I can say is that playgrounds are a good, good thing when traveling with small children.

Amanda said...

I literally laughed out loud at the comment about marrying your dad. I have to force Hubby to stop for the night...we made if Ontario (5 hours from Detroit) to just inside the SC border in one day! Not having kids helps, but I get very uncomfortable with that length of time.

Glad things on the drive are settling down and the kids are getting into a driving groove. :)

Amanda said...

I literally laughed out loud at the comment about marrying your dad. I have to force Hubby to stop for the night...we made if Ontario (5 hours from Detroit) to just inside the SC border in one day! Not having kids helps, but I get very uncomfortable with that length of time.

Glad things on the drive are settling down and the kids are getting into a driving groove. :)

Anonymous said...

Car trips with small children are not my favorite thing. Good luck!

crazywildberry said...

I have traveled back and forth from north of Pgh to MD with kids on my own many times now, and have found that as they get older, they are much easier. You go through the drive thru and keep going. Although, we are both facing potty training soon, so that will slow things up again. But, once that is conquered, it will get easy again. I only stop if one says they have to pee. Then, we all get out at the next available McD's or rest area for a stop.

I am not looking forward to October. My sister and her fiancee are getting married and they picked VA for their wedding day destination. Meaning for me? Ten hours in the car with kids and husband. I am determined, at this point, to make it in one day. With several stops. I am hoping that it doesn't drag over two days. We might have to drive all night or leave early in the AM. Ugh either way.

Caterina said...

I couldn't get passed that first sentence! God bless you.