On the road again

1,973 miles

31 hrs + rest stops in the van

11 days away from home

5 different beds

2 little people 

1 happy/crazy family

TRIP #1: A WALK DOWN THE ISLE

May 5th started out a little nutty with Joel running errands, cleaning out the car and spending unexpected time on the phone clarifying insurance details about Violet.  I had spent the previous day doing laundry, laundry and more laundry, and purposefully decided not to pack until I could lay everything out in front of me.  This meant that Thursday morning I needed to pack EVERYTHING for our 11 day adventure....and it needed to be done by 1:00pm.  I've had better ideas. :)

We got on the road only 45 minutes late and the kids slept pretty well on the 3.5 hr trip.  Violet didn't do so hot on the second half of the trip (curses to dirty diapers that wake up babies).  But we finally arrived, and Joel was off again to meet up with the guys for the bachelor party.  Benjamin had a blast with his cousins in their big back yard, and after a tasty supper and quick bath, we were off bed.  Normally this wouldn't be much of a note worthy event, but the last 4 months Benjamin has been a mommas boy who lets me put him down for naps, and frequently wants me to hold him, but only goes down well at bed time for daddy, especially when we're traveling.  To make a long story shorter, I didn't have any extra hands available when I was putting Benjamin down, and Violet needed to eat, and we all three ended up in the bed Joel and I were staying in - till Joel got home...Unfortunately Benjamin likes to flop around a lot, and he silently, yes silently, flopped from 8:30 - 10:45.  The only words spoken were the occasional whisper, "pillow...pillow", from Benjamin's tired lips  And there you have the account of the first night of 11 on the road :)

The next night was fuzzy.  Thats what sleep deprivation does to a person.  During the day Joel got Benjamin down for a nap, and we (Daddy Momma and Violet) went to the mall to pick up Joel's tux and get something for me to wear to the wedding.  (Note to all: when borrowing a friends dress, try it on before you travel...or at least bring a back up!)  After Joel VERY patiently shopped with me, we picked up his tux and found Benjamin back at the Whitehouse residence snacking with his cousins! (Grandma was a saint and agreed to watch Benjamin along with Henry and Jace!).  Our little man played so very hard the rest of the afternoon with his cousins and I was able to slip out later that night(with Violet) and join Joel at the rehearsal dinner...It was at this Chinese restaurant and SUPER yummy!  If I remember right, Joel came home after rehearsal, put Benjamin down and picked up Violet and I.  I felt like an incredibly inept mother who couldn't even put her own child to sleep, but I just tell myself he loves me so much he doesn't like to see me go! :)  After dinner, Joel dropped his women off and went out again with the guys.  He got back so late, but had some good times with friends he doesn't see very often.

Saturday morning - wedding day - started much earlier than I would have liked.  I woke up early to Benjamin crying "help help help!", and let Joel sleep due to his back to back late nights!.  Joel was off at 10:30 to start groomsmen duties, and Benjamin played outside for a large portion of the day.  I wasted much of the morning trying to get Benjamin down for an early nap.  He was EXHAUSTED, and I was pretty tried myself.  I thought it would be nice to get him down early, but he had other plans.  The beautiful sunshine, fun cousins and lack of daddy prohibited sleep, and finally I called in grandma for some much needed back up.  She rocked him to sleep, no problem!  Violet and I cleaned up and got to the wedding.  It was fun sitting with  the Lewicki family, and pretty great having all the boys at the sitters!  Its not often that we get to have uninterrupted conversation.  I missed having Joel around during the reception (he had to sit at the head table,) but was VERY appreciative that Daddy took time between the reception and the "after-party" to come back and put Benjamin to bed.  Violet and I made a last minute decision to go to the dance, and it probably wasn't the best decision of the weekend.  We left the party early and Grandma and Grandpa took us home to bed! 

After another late night for Joel, we woke up Sunday morning, and began loading up to hit the road for CO....but that is a story for another day...or at least sometime when my lap top battery isn't dying. :)