We are back from six days of vacation…four wonderful days in West Michigan…plus two not-nearly-as-wonderful travel days.
Spending over a total of 20 hours in the car wasn’t always fun (for instance, Drew discovered - and introduced Damon and I to - a brand new painfully piercing scream that is now not limited to just the confines of the vehicle…my pour ear drums), but, in the end the trip was well worth it. And, we even gained a few nuggets of valuable information on how to travel long periods of time in a car with a preschooler. For instance:
- The preschooler should be placed in the backseat directly behind the shortest front seat traveler as so that said preschooler does not place his feet on the seat in front of him and push and/or kick to the point of driving the tallest front seat driver completely bonkers.
- No matter how often the preschooler tells you they are hungry – feed him. Yes, even if it’s just five minutes after said preschooler finished the biggest Popsicle ever created at the gas station you had to stop at immediately because said preschooler had to “go poopy really, really bad".
- The backseat can be a very lonely place for a preschooler. Consider accompanying said preschooler in the backseat prior to hour 14 of the road trip – this is guaranteed to provide more laughs than screams, cries, whines or pouts combined.
- Even if the preschooler rarely watches TV or movies, a DVD player should really be on hand – just in case. (note: results of said DVD player usage cannot be confirmed as we did not have one on hand)
- Doug & Melissa have an awesome Road Trip bingo game…you just have to be flexible and play according to the ever-changing rules established by the preschooler.
- If the preschooler is not traveling with a friend or sibling, a stand-in stuffed animal can still provide hours (though not necessarily consecutive) of comfort, entertainment, and good behavior. [Thank you Stand-In Leo!!]
We think hope that we learned enough over they past weekend to improve future long road trip travels…otherwise, Drew has an enormous amount of maturing to do in the next four weeks before we make the trip again. And, let me tell you…if this next road trip does not go well…Damon and I are really going to have to reconsider our not-quite-but-nearly-set-in-stone decision to bring Drew with us to Korea to bring Leo home. And, quite honestly, if it doesn’t go well [and when I say “doesn’t go well” I mean not just Drew’s behavior…but my response to that bad behavior] I am going to need some serious cheerleaders there to help me believe in myself that I will really be able to handle TWO boys.
All that said…we really did have a great trip! What isn’t there to love about spending four days at a cottage on Lake Michigan?! The cottage has been part of my family for five generations now and I feel so extremely blessed to have had so many great times and memories there…including the time when Damon asked me to marry him! But, I feel equally blessed to be able to bring Drew there so he can discover all that’s special about the place and create his own memories – memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. And, by this time next year Leo will also be well on his way of having great times at the cottage to remember. I am indeed so blessed.
We got in late Thursday night…and by the time Drew woke up Friday morning, he already had an agenda! And, boy did he cross things off his To Do list - put up the flag with Pop; remove training wheels and ride "two wheels"; play baseball; go to the beach. I started to fear that once he was done doing everything he wanted to do while at the cottage by noon Friday, he’d tell us it was time to go home (and there was no way I was ready to get back in the car with him yet). But, Drew quickly found even more fun things to do…which simply tells me that he’s totally getting the hang of “going to the cottage”. I can only imagine how cool it will be watching Drew show Leo the ropes!!
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| Helping Pop remove the training wheels |
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| Concentrating really hard to balance |
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| Goofing off with Pop in the hammock |
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| Hanging out in Saugatuck listening to Reggae |
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| Drew's been sitting on this motorcycle since he was 9 months old - but this was the first time it moved! |
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| So cool.... |
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| The Holland Memorial Day Parade down 8th Street |
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| Drew, Granny & me after the parade |
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| Drew telling us how cool the bands and soldiers were |
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| Drew and Granny making some dessert |
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| What a fun-filled long weekend will do to boys |
In selecting pictures for this post I realized how much I was "living in the moment" this past weekend and not actually capturing it on the camera...seriously, where are all the beach pictures?!? (and no pictures of all the "fun" in the car?! I need to go to photography school) Anyhow, I really, really hope that my parents send me over all the pictures they took...and we can all re-live Memorial Day 2010 again soon through their eyes.
Until next time...happy June!
6 comments:
Your car trip sounds a lot like ours! At one point, I looked over in traffic at a family in a minivan and nearly cried from jealousy because the kids were sitting so far back they couldn't kick the parent's seat! We are thinking we are going to FINALLY cave and get a DVD player for the car too.
That cabin sounds like a great family tradition. You are very blessed!
We have all lived that horrible trip! I am a HUGE fan of Books, DVDs, Leapsters, ipods, DSs, whatever it takes....
When we are packing for a trip, after packing clothes, the next step for the kids is to pack their "car bag". When they were younger, I assisted-the one time I didn't-oh the tears over the forgotten bedtime blanket, replaced by a new bedtime blanket so that now we have two!-and now they can do it on thier own.
Our biggest lesson learned, when someone says I have to go to the bathroom, stopping immediately and not at the next rest stop is important. We have had to do many a roadside pee because the alternate was a brand new outfit at the next Walmart!
Beyond the car, it looks like you had a fabulous trip :) I love all the pictures!!!
PS-You can not only handle two boys-you are going to be FABULOUS!-You and Drew can handle the trip to Korea! You know us-we have traveled all over with our kids
and I can honestly say that while there are mishaps, it is worth it. My kids are becoming fantastic travelers, who have their own list of places they would like to go, because we have never let having them stop us from exploring and going where we wanted to go. We took one trip without them and missed them 99% of the time!
You are going to love having Drew with you, even if he isn't a perfect companion, because he will be sharing the moment with you.
The trip (sans drives) sounds, and looks, amazing! I don't know if you were reading my blog when I posted about the "Worst. Drive. Ever." but suffice it to say, I can relate. I will be making that same trip again, later this month. I have a whole bag of goodies to help me survive. :-)
So glad to hear you had such a great time. Your pics are fantastic! I sooo remember those terrible car rides - one boy or two, it doesn't get worse.... loud screaming is loud screaming. If you can handle one, you can handle two. Actually, over the last couple years, they've actually started to entertain eachother and "pretend" play quite a bit. It only gets better. Like Cassie, we load up on books, leapsters, coloring books, and the trusted DVDs. Though the DVD player only comes out for trips that are longer than 5 hours and never until we've been on the road at least 2-3 hours. Otherwise we found they got bored with DVDs right when we needed them most.
Look forward to hearing how the trip in July goes! We'll be making our own 10 hour trip next Thursday!
oh, to hear that i am not alone makes me feel so much better! and, good luck to all of us road tripping it soon.
thanks all for the great travel tips too...they will be put to good use.
and...cas, i cannot stop re-reading your comment about taking Drew with us to Korea. i think those very wise words have just put the issue to rest. drew will be traveling with us. you are the best! thank you.
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