When Ike hit and the power situation was grim, we decided it was time to make our Georgia road trip a reality. It was a very spontaneous decision - we decided at about 2 and by 4 Anne was ready to leave. She and her gang picked Danny and I up in Dallas and then we took 20 East through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally Georgia, making sure to honk at every state line (my sister insisted this is something EVERYONE does, but I never heard another car honk. IS this something your family does?).
Now, having one 2-year old on our previous sister road trip was a breeze. However, this road trip was quite a different adventure since we now had five children ranging from 7 years to 2 months. We also neglected to do the appropriate mileage/time calculation. Google maps informed us the drive would take about 12 hours from Dallas. Doing it in one day would be a piece of cake, we thought. Our oversight was potty stops, nursing stops, playland stops, eating stops, more potty stops (sometimes 20 minutes after the previous one), diaper change stops, fussy stops, fueling stops, and more potty stops. The kids were quite good, but there were moments when the powerless house in Houston seemed quite appealing. We tried to remind ourselves - we have screaming children, but we also have A/C right now. So, how does one survive a 16 hour car ride with 5 children . . . .
School House Rock, Finding Nemo, Dora, and The Incredibles
Hide and Seek (or are they just lounging in the shade?)
Interesting Rest Stops with bridges . . .
Ducks . . .
And even alligators!
Collect rocks from every state/Get as dirty as possible/Play with sticks
Ice Cream for Dinner (since our bellies were so full of car snacks)
Toss rocks in a pond/Try not to get wet
McDonalds, McDonalds, McDonalds
On the way back, we decided to take it in two days, which was much easier. I have new admiration for those of you who are die hard road trippers and frequently make 12+ hour drives. Though overall we had a fantastic trip, we may wait until Leah can drive before making the next one. :)
3 comments:
How fun! I want to go on a roadtrip in the south and still get to wear shorts!
And I LOVE the post about raw batter. I should've died a LONG time ago. And Lauren has survived as well. She might not survive if she can't "help" make cookies. Her kind of help includes tasting the batter after each ingredient is added.
I actually have great memories of car trips with my family (6 kids and 2 parents)! We also stopped at some good rest stops. My parents would also give us "presents" along the way if we were good, always something to do in the car, like an etch-a-sketch or coloring book.
Nice work!
This is why my parents come here to visit us. I can't handle the road trip with all my kids.
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