Road Trip Report

Days one and two of driving have gone remarkably well - only one memorable meltdown and no accidents! I'm especially impressed with Michael Jr considering that 90% of his waking hours are normally spent either running or sitting in my lap, and in the car he can't do either.

Grandma has made this drive so many times that she knows already where all the fun little stops are. Yesterday's highlight was Grandpa's Cheesebarn. It was perfect for the kids for three reasons: lots of free pretzels, a cookie at the end, and this little truck outside.

Catherine claimed first driver, and Michael Jr was content to ride in the back.

But when Mary hopped in front for her turn, he was not at all pleased that he was expected to wait through two turns.

It worked out, though. By the time it was his turn to drive, his sisters had gotten bored and run off to "their new house" under some picnic tables, so he had the truck all to himself.

This was a beautiful arrangement until it was time to go. Luckily, that cookie was waiting for him in the car. We had a similar problem when it was time to leave the toy firetruck he found at Cracker Barrel. It's really not a good idea to separate a boy from his trucks.

Sometimes we have to think creatively when we're in "avert meltdown" mode, but it's easy to get the hang of it. Here I simply started wearing a bucket as a hat. It was a lucky guess, and a catchy trend...

This is the result of Mary running out the door of a rest stop on day one and tripping on her flip flop on the side walk. She got both knees, both hands, and one side of her face from her forehead to the tip of her nose. She was actually doing pretty well afterwards, until she caught site of her face in the mirror at the next potty stop.

Thirty seconds of car ride:



Anyone want to join us?