Monday, July 22, 2013

Mama Road Trip!

Thursday morning Brandi picked us up, we loaded our stuff in her NEW VAN, we waved goodbye to Bampa, and we were off! 1 minivan, 2 moms, 4 kids four and under, 738 miles, countless applesauce pouches and fruit snacks, tons of toys on the floor, about four movies, and a few stops later, we made it!!!  The kids did AWESOME!  I was the most worried about Graham, but he was actually the one we heard from the least--LOL  He slept at all the right times, and apparently there was plenty to amuse him when he was awake.  Jackson and Kaitlyn were such big kids sitting in the way back, and they did really well sharing toys and snacks.  Liam was a trooper, as always.  We did make good use of the built-in DVD player, but it was pretty easy to agree on movies.  We stopped at Culver's for lunch and Chick-fil-a for dinner.  Culver's was delicious, as always, and the kids were able to play a bit at Chick-fil-a.  There was a bit of drama with the cow, but by the end of the meal everyone had high-fived and hugged him :)  Much to Josh's chagrin, I managed to stay awake for MUCH more of the drive than I do than when I'm with him.  Brandi and I had a lot to catch up on--what better than 14 (mostly) un-interrupted hours?  :)

Everyone seemed to sleep well and while Josh trooped off to work, Brandi and I loaded everyone up once again to do a big grocery shop at Wegman's!  The kids were so well behaved, but we got quite a few strange looks.  They have amazing double carts at Wegmans that are built for two kids each in the basket, so we had two of those between us, but we kept getting the weirdest looks.  I do love shopping at Wegmans, but strange things have happened there...

After the long drive, I definitely didn't feel up to making lunch, so we picked up lunch at McDonald's, went home to put away groceries, laid everyone down for naps, and then we had some pool fun outside! 
 Ever since we got the playhouse, I've been thinking about putting the slide IN the pool!  We finally got to do it!  Everyone loved it, even Graham :)
 So happy playing with his friends!
 So squishy!
 These two had so much fun with the fishing nets and all the little toys we have accumulated!

Brandi is always an awesome wing-woman, but she really rocked the bath and jammie time!  She got the three big kids bathed and dressed while I worked on dinner.  We put everyone to bed on the early side and then enjoyed a relaxing dinner with Josh :)

On Saturday Josh headed to Staunton for Aunt Jeannie's surprise birthday party!  Brandi and I took the kids to Veteran's Memorial Pool after an early lunch.  We had such a good time, and it was a great way to beat the heat!  There is a zero entry area in the kids' pool, and that was perfect for us all!  Jackson was much braver than previous summers, and he ended up loving running in and out from under the spraying mushroom!  Graham LOVED the little squirters that shoot up from the ground.  He kept putting his face right in them trying to hug them!  LOL  We headed right home for naps and then more outside pool time.  Again, Brandi rocked bath and pj time!  Such a nice little routine :)
It was warm yesterday, but we headed to The Bear Park anyways!  We started out by hiking the kid-friendly trail near the playground.  We only had the three big kids, and they had a great time together :)
 Photo #1 for future wedding slideshow ;)
 Photo #2 for slideshow ;)
 Climbing the bear wall 
Sweet Lady in the ladybug 
Snacks are really a large part of Brandi's and my success :)
CHEESE!
 After dinner, we did some more of our fireworks stash with KK and Liam!  Sparklers were a hit!
So sweet!
 And, who doesn't love the poppers?

We quickly got everyone situated in bed, and then Brandi and I escaped to The Cheesecake Factory for some delicious dessert :)


No comments:

Post a Comment