We spent Memorial Weekend visiting my parents and my sister’s family in Maryland and my father-in-law in North Carolina. We also spent A LOT of time on I-95 North and South. I did not know I could be so exhausted from sitting in the car (and twisting and turning to entertain and refuel two kids under the age of three!) The main goal of this trip was to finally meet my new nephew and godson Luke (my sister’s third child). He was just as sweet and cute as I had imagined:
Daniel and Annabel had a blast playing with their cousins:
We enjoyed the super cool Winston-Salem Children’s Museum:
Daniel LOVES school buses so we had to stop for this photo op in NC:
Both of my kiddies were awesome in the car. We have done this trip a couple times before so I’m beginning to learn what to bring. Here is my “Must Have” item list for the car:
- Lots of snacks. My favorite thing to do is to put Cheerios in these fun snack cups. This is especially entertaining for Annabel. I just refill the cups over and over and I don’t worry because the kids are downing handfuls of healthy whole grain.
- Magazines. I used to give Daniel a bunch of new books but, unless I want to constantly turn around to read to him, they lost their entertainment value pretty quickly. So I started bringing toy, sport, and kid furniture catalogs. We call them Daniel’s “magazines.” He will spend 30 minutes gazing at all the pictures and picking out what he wants. (I now have to buy him a sprinkler pool and swing set, but we’ll deal with that later.) Also, Grandma and Grandpa gave Daniel a subscription to Highlights. I stock pile them and bring them on the car trip too.
- Mini Photo Albums. Annabel slept a lot but when she was awake she loved to look through mini photo albums like this one. I filled the album with pictures of everyone she would see on the trip.
- DVD Player. If you read my previous blog, you saw that we broke down and bought our very first car DVD player. I was against it at first because I did not want my two kids to be completely zoned out while their brains filled with mush. But it was fine. We just turned the DVD player on for 30 minute intervals twice a day. They watched Blue’s Clues, Little Bear, or Sesame Street and then we would turn it off. They thought it was so cool and it was a nice car break for Mama and Daddy. It was a win/win and I’m sure we will use it again.
- Car Seat Trays. I don’t think I have found the perfect one yet, but we used these. Daniel would use his to play cars and color. I also used them for lunch. We packed sandwiches, Go-Gurt, applesauce and milk in a travel cooler. When we did stop at McDonald’s, it was easier to park and feed them in the car than waste a lot of time in the restaurant. When they are older I’m sure this will not work, but it’s great for toddlers.
Also, Cracker Barrel restaurants are wonderful for changing diapers in a clean environment. And they have a cute gift shop you just HAVE to walk through to get to the restrooms. Of course I could not resist buying Annabel a dress for the Fourth of July:
Now we are home and the kiddies both have yucky trip colds. I’m just so glad the snots and drips waited until we got back to Florida.
I was excited to put the kids to bed, throw in a load of laundry, grab a glass of wine and watch the season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8. It was SO SAD. I loved Jon & Kate Plus 8 back in the day when it showed Kate grocery shopping, potty training, and planning fun Valentine’s Day activities for her kids. I told my husband that I loved to watch the show because it was so relaxing. If Kate could be a stay-at-home mom with EIGHT kids surely I could do it with two kids. She inspired me. I loved that she was scheduled and organized because I parent the same way. Then the show just began to document all their free vacations and outings. And NOW it’s turned into marriage counseling. I hope they can work it out. I really do. I was always a Kate fan and I am still on her side. I can’t judge her because I’m not in her shoes. I can’t imagine the pressure she is under to support her family. I hope that the “fame” did not go to her head. I hope she realizes that she married her husband FIRST and they decided to have children TOGETHER. I hope they do what’s best for the kids and WORK IT OUT. Of course, I’ll be watching all the drama unfold….
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