Settle in for a long read because this post is a novel.
After being gone for 10 long months, Ethan, Caden, and I ended our summer with a road trip to Texas to catch up with some friends. Since Ben had to work, I began planning weeks in advance to figure out exactly how I was going to drive halfway across the country by myself with an almost potty-trained 3-year-old and a 15-month-old. Much to my disappointment what I spent so much time planning really didn't impress the boys at all. But, we made it and that's what counts!
We set out on a Thursday afternoon around naptime(hoping for sleep...Epic fail #1) to travel to Mississippi to spend the night. I was armed with a cooler, tons of already filled snack bowls, and a surprise treat bag all within my reach and had filled my huge Thirty-One open tote to the rim with books and toys and propped it up with the pack-n-play and a folded quilt in between the boys' seats so that they could reach the items in their bag by themselves. While they were much more interested in Mommy's special treat bag that I filled with little trinkets and toys that I had picked up on the dollar aisles a few days earlier, they did play with some of the books and toys in their bag. I also brought along several of the Disney classics that Ethan had never seen so that we could pop in a movie along the way as well. And, of course, I had to bring the Disney movie Cars(that I honestly believe that I now have memorized as that was the ONLY movie that he really wanted to watch the whole way there and back).
I had planned so well and had plastic bags filled full of several different car friendly snacks so that I could refill their snack bowls as needed and placed plenty of items in my surprise bag to get us all the way to Texas and back home as well as carefully considering the size of the toys and books that I placed in their bag to make sure that they could maneuver them within their car seats, etc. etc, etc...they couldn't have cared less about any of it and all they wanted to see was the next thing that I would pull out of my surprise bag. Which they proceeded to play with for 45 seconds, through it in the floorboard, then ask what was next. Well, the Mommy/Teacher in me said, "Oh no, that's not how it works, you are to appreciate the special things that I bought and if you throw it on the ground, then you'll simply have to select something from your own bag." Which worked for all of about 5 minutes until screaming ensued from both boys and Mommy could not stand to drive while listening to long drawn out temper tantrums. Therefore, I had exhausted my surprise treat bag by the time we had dinner with my Mom and her friend in Tuscaloosa(Epic fail #2). However, they totally didn't mind that I picked up all of the special treats and returned them to my bag and passed them back out again on the next stretch of road. Which was a pattern that we repeated about 15 times on the way to Texas and on the return trip back. And still, the boys weren't tired of the dollar trinkets. They spent much more time playing with those toys than the tried and true toys that I packed for their bag.
I also arranged our luggage so that there was an open space in the back with plenty of room for me to be able to lift Ethan up and for him to sit on his potty when we needed to stop without him feeling claustrophobic. That was probably the most successful part of the trip because we made use of a lot of country road exit ramps, gas station parking lots, and numerous other "This might be an OK place for a potty break" stops in between. Ethan totally rocked it, told me when he had to go, and was able to hold it until I could get stopped and get him on his potty! My mom followed us from Tuscaloosa, spent the night with us in Mississippi, and followed us the next day to Texas because she had hired movers to close up her house there and move into her new one in Birmingham. Love, Love, Love that the timing on this worked out! It was such a blessing to have an extra set of hands when I needed to go to the bathroom without having to put Caden in the stroller and walk Ethan into a store. All in all, we stopped numerous times and the boys found patches of grass to expend some energy on before returning to their car seats.
And then we were finally there!
We started our visit with lots of well-made plans to keep us busy. The boys and I arrived at "Aunt" Leigh Ann's house late Friday afternoon and they had a blast playing with Alex, getting to ooh and aah over baby Katherine, and chase after their dog Samson. It was so awesome seeing Ethan and Alex step right back into their relationship with each other after 10 months of being away. It might as well have been 10 years as far as a 3-year-old is concerned but after 2 minutes they both acted like they had never been separated which was an answered prayer. They played way, way, way past bedtime then finally fell asleep around 10 pm(gasp). Everyone had their own room which definitely helped with bedtime and naptime throughout the week.
Saturday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and played for a while. Then it was time for the circus! Ethan had already been to Ringling Brothers when they came through Atlanta several months ago, but he loved it so I thought it would be great to go again with his friends Alex and Keller and their Mommies. Leigh Ann's mother-in-law and father-in-law had graciously offered to watch Caden and Katherine so that we could give the big kids our undivided attention. We went, but it was not the greatest idea. He was exhausted from the long trip and late night before and spent the entire time sitting in my lap asking to go back to Alex's so that we could play :-(. And while I did catch him enjoying a few of the acts, Alex and Keller loved every minute of it! It was so cute because Alex ended up sitting with Lindy while Keller sat with Leigh Ann.
Lindy and Alex
Leigh Ann and Keller(sorry for the blurry picture)
After the circus, we stayed "home" until church the next morning. It was wonderful seeing so many friends all in one place! After a quick lunch with the Pieratt's after church, we headed back for afternoon naps and then Ethan, Alex, and Caden played the rest of the day. Monday morning we met the Pieratt family at Harry Myer's, which was Ethan's all-time favorite place while we lived in Rockwall. Caden was too small when we moved so this was his first opportunity to get to play!
Caden
Cannon
Ethan found a bucket to give him some height so that he could better maneuver the sprayer
After about 15 minutes of playing, Ethan came up to me and said he was ready to go and Caden began to fuss. I wasn't prepared for this because Ethan had been talking about visiting the spray park before we even got in the car to come to Texas, so I was reminded once again that the boys were not getting enough down time. We headed out shortly after and followed our old routine of lunch at Chick-Fil-A before going back to Leigh Ann's for naps. Lunch was a fiasco, which I should have known would happen since the spray park hadn't gone so well. Both boys were OUT OF CONTROL, which was totally my fault but since I was afraid that this would be the last time to see Lindy, Keller, and Cannon, I wanted to try to make the most of it. My deepest apologies to them and also to Lindy's mom who was eating with us :-( .
After that event, I rethought the rest of the week and canceled all plans with the basic explanation that the boys had had all they could handle and anyone was welcome to come see us, but we weren't going to go anywhere. This was absolutely perfect for them and I was finally able to relax and enjoy being back. We had a big playdate Monday night at Leigh Ann's house with the families of my old bible study group. Then we walked across the street on Tuesday for a quick playdate with the Geraci's, after that the Pieratt's came over for a little while that afternoon, and we didn't do one thing on Wednesday except make an absolute mess in the sandbox and playroom! We also got to spend lots of quality time with Ms. Kristin both Tuesday and Wednesday nights and even got to meet baby Harper!
Finally...Playtime!
Leigh Ann and I kept talking about how we
should be taking pictures, but we were enjoying our time together and
the boys were having an absolute blast, so the camera wasn't even a
thought in my mind most of the time. She and I had lots of 2:30 a.m. mornings catching up on life and the boys played inside and out from morning to night. Ethan and Caden were completely fascinated with little Katherine which was precious to see and Alex is a great big brother! Our time went way too fast and all of a sudden it was time to leave...sniff, sniff.
The Geraci's came over to say goodbye and we got on the road after breakfast Thursday morning. Oddly enough, I guess the last couple of days of doing nothing had paid off because the drive back to Mississippi that day was pretty uneventful. Overall, the boys did well and we arrived in plenty of time for an early dinner, playtime in the play area to let go of some energy, and then check into the hotel. Now, this had been my biggest stressor of the trip. Getting the bags unloaded from the car, checked in to the hotel, get the car parked, and get 2 boys up to a hotel room by myself scared me. No clue why I stressed, it was a breeze! I pulled under the covered area, put a movie on for the boys, got a luggage cart from right by the door, got our overnight bag and the few other bags that we needed loaded on the cart, then left it under the covered area while I pulled off to park the car. I unbuckled the boys and we walked(in the rain) to the luggage cart. I purposefully left an open space on the cart for the boys to sit and wheeled them in to the hotel with our stuff, checked in, and wheeled them into the elevator and up to the room. They thought it was the best roller coaster ride ever!
So we settled in for the night and did it all over again the next day. Again, the boys did much better than on the trip out to Texas and we made it home in the early afternoon. Ethan and I talked about every vehicle that
drove by and I can promise you that we did not miss one bulldozer from
here to Texas or from Texas back home! The boy is still fascinated by
construction equipment. All in all, it was a great trip and they had plenty of time to play when we got home while I unpacked.
We will never forget the time we were able to spend with Leigh Ann and Alex and thankful that her husband, Paul, graciously allowed us to take over their home while he was in India on a mission trip. And he just happened to be with Jason, who is Lindy's husband and Keller and Cannon's dad.
Thanks Scheibe's! We love you to the moon and back! Can't wait to see you again!
