Road Trips for children

When you are little, you cannot wait to grow up.  Being a kid seems like such a bummer, right?  Grown-ups are always trying to boss you around and tell you what to do.  You don't get to be in charge of what you want to do, where you want to go, or anything.  I can remember that feeling very well.  I could not wait to be "big enough to ________ (fill in the blank)."

I would venture to say that most adults have moments where we wish we could be children again.  Probably because as grown-ups, we are very aware of how good kids have it.  Maybe they don't "get" to do whatever they want, but they also don't experience worry or stress or even planning things.  And I know I am not the only one who would give my eye teeth to have someone MAKE me take a nap any day of the week.  Are you with me??

Well, I recently came to the realization that road trips are one area where kids have it pretty darn easy - at least my kids do, anyway.

Here is a breakdown of the preparations for one of one of our recent road trips.
First, take a look at what Spencer was doing while I got up early to pack, load, and get us ready to
head back to IL.

 

And Jessa Lynn:

  

Here are the toiletries that I packed for all of us. 

The Nintendo DS that I charged.  Well, actually, I charged 2.

The computers that I packed up - after locating the adapters that were scattered all over the house.











Just a reminder, here is what Jessa and Spencer were doing while all of this was going on.





















While they snooze away, their suitcases are magically packed. . .

I also had to pack for Julie, the American Girl.

And there was the cooler, with drinks for our trip, it had to be packed, too.

Then I packed a snack bags for each kiddo.
I try to have plenty to eat and drink, so we can make the fewest number of stops possible

I usually let them start off the long day in the car still wearing their jommies.  BUT most of the time, they want to change at some point on the road (OK, fine, so it is me that is embarrassed to go traipsing into gas stations all over the country with my kids still in their PJs).  It doesn't matter whose idea it really is, I also pack a change of clothes for each child.













Oh, and also, guess what the kiddos were doing at this point in the process?






















And I cannot forget to pack my own suitcase, right?












 Then the car must be loaded with all of the aforementioned things that I have gathered.

 And then children themselves must also be loaded.

David carried one,

and Bay carried the other.

 And then the precious angels can be tucked in for a nice long trip complete with their luggage, their snacks, their drinks, Jessa's DS, Spencer's DS, their computers, their toys, their blankets, their pillow pets, their change of clothes, their movies, and about anything else that I might need for a 9 hour trip.

 Oh wait, what about these guys?
They have to go, too.
And they have pillows and a water bowl and leashes. . .

So it makes sense that I might at times want to take a road trip as a child.
Or maybe I should be more specific, I want to go on a road trip as one of my children.
Heck, I wouldn't even mind traveling as one of my dogs!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

(OK, not even close to wordless, but it is Wednesday. . .) 
 
When I decorated for Christmas, I added one of my favorite vinyl tablecloths to the kitchen table.
The kids were wearing their new Christmas jommies.
They were alone in the kitchen.
I heard giggles and the words "look, we're camouflaged!"

They were kind of right.
At least I think so, anyway.
Well, you be the judge.

 Here is the table before:

To be clear, this is the picture WITHOUT the little children in it.

Here is after -
can you find the two sweet children in this picture?

See, they are camouflaged!

Merry Christmas from the camo kids!

I'm not ready

Just now, my sweet 8 year old baby girl asked me a question.  See, she has several little buddies.  She calls them her BFFs (which totally cracks me up).  And she has even had sleepovers with one of these BFFs a few times.  Her first sleepover was pretty tough to handle.  That is something that big girls do, right??  You mean, I have a big girl?  How did this happen?  She was little.  She drank from bottles.  And now she is giggling in sleeping bags watching movies and eating popcorn?

Well, today, we had another big first.
She walked in holding the phone in her hand and said, "Mom, can I call _______?"  And I said, "For what?"  And she said, "I don't know, just to talk."

And so it begins.  I remember spending HOURS on the phone every single day of my life.  I remember when we used to spend all day at school together, and then we'd hurry home to talk some more.  I got my own phone line on my 12th birthday because we were not in an area that had call waiting yet.  Ah, the phone.

Well, let's give it up for my over achiever.
Chatting with her BFF on the phone at age 8.

When she is a teenager, boy, are we in trouble.