There's no place like home.
We're back.
Soooo ...
As it turns out, a car ride with two little kids isn't that bad. Except when you wake up sick and nauseous and feel like death warmed over. And your toddler is also sick and cranky and wants to battle over the littlest thing.
And you slam the car door on your leg at the first stop and it leaves a massive, throbbing bruise. And the drive lasts 11 hrs and 10 minutes instead of the expected 9 hrs and you get stuck in rush-hour traffic at the very end (damn Columbus!) and your baby decides he's had enough of being an angel and cries for the last 45 minutes straight.
The good news is that getting there was one of the best moments of my life.
We practically ran into the restaurant to meet everyone and Aunt Cathi and Baby Jenny were there and so was my 90 year old grandmother (Mela's "GG").
And when I sat down next to GG, who had never met Nathan (and I was morbidly afraid, never would), he reached out and put his hand on her wrinkled face, searched it for a moment and then broke out into a wide grin.
Like, "Hey, nice lady, I like you!"
It was wonderful.
Mela of course, wouldn't talk to anyone but her grandmother but hey, my kids are different people.
The rest of the weekend was an important learning experience.
I learned that staying at a hotel and eating out all the time *sounds* like a wonderful weekend but is in fact, more work than play when you have two little ones. Just basic things, like eating lunch or going down for naps, take on a whole other level of coordination.
The worst part was a severe lack of sleep: no cribs at the hotel the first two nights meant Nathan with me (which meant waking up every hour) and then on the floor on a mattress (which ended up with me pushing a stroller around our pitch-dark room at midnight).
This resulted in a cranky Mama and a cranky baby, which is a bad combination at the best of times.
At one point, we were trying to get ready to go somewhere and Nathan was sitting on the bed, just wailing. For really no reason ... he had napped and eaten and "should've" been fine but was just screaming. I was tired and barely hanging on and just kept wondering what we were doing wrong and for the love of god, WHY IS THIS SO MUCH HARDER FOR US THAN FOR OTHER PEOPLE?!!!
And then my mom, who raised four kids, walked in the room and said, "You guys deserve a medal."
A comment like that goes a long, long way.
It makes me think maybe we're not just wimps and maybe we're not screwing it all up somehow and maybe we just have a "high needs" baby who really needs to stick to his own routine and his own bed.
At one point, my older sister asked if we wanted her to perform an exorcism. Poor Nate. He didn't sign up for this; if anything, he's the one we should all be feeling the worst for.
Which we do. Once he stops crying.
Overall, it was all worth it of course, though. We got some top quality family time, not only with GG, Aunt Cathi and Baby Jenny (who has learned to crawl since we last saw her!) but also with the extended folks.
The best part was the firsts for the cousins: first group bath, first group bedtime stories, first time playing in a pool, etc.
Momentous occasions, indeed.
The trip back was much better, with lovely weather, relatively happy kids and a lot less traffic. It still took 11 hrs and some desperate nursery-rhyme-singing but really, not that bad in the end.
Remind me not to travel again until they're both preschoolers.
p.s. Just read my sister's blog and in describing the weekend, she said, "I learned that my precious nephew has a super-sonic cry that can call woodland creatures to his side and make ocean currents reverse." HA!
Leaving home ....
All aboard for the first family trip!
Mela enjoys a Diego CD. Mama enjoys a People magazine. Everyone is happy.
... and she's out!
Nate plays with his bug catcher:
Oh, so that's what open fields look like. I'd almost forgotten ...
Jenny tries to cuddle up with Nate, who finds the whole thing hilarious!
Okay, cousin, show me how you climb that thing!
Eating strawberries on GG's deck:
We went to an awesomly delicious Mexican restaurant one night. We basically took over ...
Whoa. Who ARE these people? They're louder than me!
Nate meets Cousin Jim. Tip: he's funny.
Mela is nonplussed.
Ohhhh Jenny, you have such luscious locks. Want.to.touch.the.hair.
Good times with the cheesy girl:
Aunt Cathi chugs her margarita before baby bedtimes kick in:
The girls get ready for a bath. Privacy, please!
Jenny and Nate check each other out:
Hey sister, isn't this fun?!
Yes it is!
Yes, we know you can stand. And feel very proud about it.
I know how you feel, Mela. I'm tired too.
The best part about restaurants is that 1) they give you crushed ice, 2) your mom is too busy socializing to notice if you play with it.
Nate and the Riehle men. He fit right in.
Mela discovers two awesome things in the world: the mini-trampoline and cousins:
The generations together at last:
Back in the car, heading home ... can you believe we're about to do it all again?
Mela does some light reading to pass the time:
Happy to be out of the car:
The girls ham it up:
And the whole thing ends with a sleeping baby. Bliss!
Soooo ...
As it turns out, a car ride with two little kids isn't that bad. Except when you wake up sick and nauseous and feel like death warmed over. And your toddler is also sick and cranky and wants to battle over the littlest thing.
And you slam the car door on your leg at the first stop and it leaves a massive, throbbing bruise. And the drive lasts 11 hrs and 10 minutes instead of the expected 9 hrs and you get stuck in rush-hour traffic at the very end (damn Columbus!) and your baby decides he's had enough of being an angel and cries for the last 45 minutes straight.
The good news is that getting there was one of the best moments of my life.
We practically ran into the restaurant to meet everyone and Aunt Cathi and Baby Jenny were there and so was my 90 year old grandmother (Mela's "GG").
And when I sat down next to GG, who had never met Nathan (and I was morbidly afraid, never would), he reached out and put his hand on her wrinkled face, searched it for a moment and then broke out into a wide grin.
Like, "Hey, nice lady, I like you!"
It was wonderful.
Mela of course, wouldn't talk to anyone but her grandmother but hey, my kids are different people.
The rest of the weekend was an important learning experience.
I learned that staying at a hotel and eating out all the time *sounds* like a wonderful weekend but is in fact, more work than play when you have two little ones. Just basic things, like eating lunch or going down for naps, take on a whole other level of coordination.
The worst part was a severe lack of sleep: no cribs at the hotel the first two nights meant Nathan with me (which meant waking up every hour) and then on the floor on a mattress (which ended up with me pushing a stroller around our pitch-dark room at midnight).
This resulted in a cranky Mama and a cranky baby, which is a bad combination at the best of times.
At one point, we were trying to get ready to go somewhere and Nathan was sitting on the bed, just wailing. For really no reason ... he had napped and eaten and "should've" been fine but was just screaming. I was tired and barely hanging on and just kept wondering what we were doing wrong and for the love of god, WHY IS THIS SO MUCH HARDER FOR US THAN FOR OTHER PEOPLE?!!!
And then my mom, who raised four kids, walked in the room and said, "You guys deserve a medal."
A comment like that goes a long, long way.
It makes me think maybe we're not just wimps and maybe we're not screwing it all up somehow and maybe we just have a "high needs" baby who really needs to stick to his own routine and his own bed.
At one point, my older sister asked if we wanted her to perform an exorcism. Poor Nate. He didn't sign up for this; if anything, he's the one we should all be feeling the worst for.
Which we do. Once he stops crying.
Overall, it was all worth it of course, though. We got some top quality family time, not only with GG, Aunt Cathi and Baby Jenny (who has learned to crawl since we last saw her!) but also with the extended folks.
The best part was the firsts for the cousins: first group bath, first group bedtime stories, first time playing in a pool, etc.
Momentous occasions, indeed.
The trip back was much better, with lovely weather, relatively happy kids and a lot less traffic. It still took 11 hrs and some desperate nursery-rhyme-singing but really, not that bad in the end.
Remind me not to travel again until they're both preschoolers.
p.s. Just read my sister's blog and in describing the weekend, she said, "I learned that my precious nephew has a super-sonic cry that can call woodland creatures to his side and make ocean currents reverse." HA!
Leaving home ....
All aboard for the first family trip!
Mela enjoys a Diego CD. Mama enjoys a People magazine. Everyone is happy.
... and she's out!
Nate plays with his bug catcher:
Oh, so that's what open fields look like. I'd almost forgotten ...
Jenny tries to cuddle up with Nate, who finds the whole thing hilarious!
Okay, cousin, show me how you climb that thing!
Eating strawberries on GG's deck:
We went to an awesomly delicious Mexican restaurant one night. We basically took over ...
Whoa. Who ARE these people? They're louder than me!
Nate meets Cousin Jim. Tip: he's funny.
Mela is nonplussed.
Ohhhh Jenny, you have such luscious locks. Want.to.touch.the.hair.
Good times with the cheesy girl:
Aunt Cathi chugs her margarita before baby bedtimes kick in:
The girls get ready for a bath. Privacy, please!
Jenny and Nate check each other out:
Hey sister, isn't this fun?!
Yes it is!
Yes, we know you can stand. And feel very proud about it.
I know how you feel, Mela. I'm tired too.
The best part about restaurants is that 1) they give you crushed ice, 2) your mom is too busy socializing to notice if you play with it.
Nate and the Riehle men. He fit right in.
Mela discovers two awesome things in the world: the mini-trampoline and cousins:
The generations together at last:
Back in the car, heading home ... can you believe we're about to do it all again?
Mela does some light reading to pass the time:
Happy to be out of the car:
The girls ham it up:
And the whole thing ends with a sleeping baby. Bliss!
Comments
Glad everyone survived. Let's never, ever do that again. Until they're at least 14.