We got up before 4:00 AM to get on the road by 5:00 AM, but it took us until almost 6:00 AM to get the kids in the car and actually get on the road. The kids made the transition from asleep in the bed to asleep in the car seats with 10 minutes (so, that went perfectly).
Leaving at 6:00 AM meant that we got to my parents’ house later. We were right to assume that they would wake about 7:15 AM, so we had about 1 hour and 15 minutes to try to entertain them. It went pretty well, though we had to resort to giving them some toast to fill their “starving” bellies. Our goal was to get them there just in time for breakfast (which they gobbled up when we DID arrive).
Mom and Dad had plenty of toys for them, some cute clothes and a "Pack 'N Play" for our room so that CO (the one-year-old boy) could sleep in there. We brought another Pack 'N Play for LP (our 18-month-old girl) -- no, wait... that isn't a Pack 'N Play that we packed ... it is a pair of folding lawn chairs! Oops!
Since we were short one place to sleep for the kids, that meant that Mom and I had to run to Wal-Mart in town to get a set of bed rails for the bed (which actually worked out better than the Pack ‘N Play would have). We also needed teething rings and some bath toys (the sponge letters that stick to the walls with water). Of course, she could not resist getting one more toy for them. We also had to go into town to get a laser printer for Dad. He wanted to print from his netbook, but the old printer was so out-of-date that the printer drivers were no longer available.
That afternoon we went on an Easter Egg hunt at John Bob Cody's house (along with about 40 kids and plenty of adults). CO successfully ate grass and dirt. LP kind of figured it out, but kept popping open the plastic eggs and wanted all the candy inside (which we were determined to severely limit). Both kids seemed a bit out of place since we knew almost no one there and they definitely knew no one. Also, CO was just too young. They looked cute though. We had to leave very soon after the hunt because both kids had missed their nap and were getting grumpy. Fortunately, the kids slept pretty well at night.
Saturday and Sunday (April 3 & 4, 2010)
Melinda took the kids to Elaine's house Saturday morning. I followed several hours later because I needed to set up Dad’s new printer and I also had to work on the end-of-the-month paperwork for Covenant Kids and we were a bit behind.
She had filled the living room with toys. LP had her side and CO had his side of the room. Melinda said that was the case under the Christmas tree, one side was for Melinda and one side for her sister Christi. The kids immediately ran and played and Nanny was in the middle of all the fun. Nanny sang songs, had a tea party, and had both kids mimicking her actions. Shortly after I got to Elaine’s, our good friend Norma came over to visit and all of us enjoyed the kids giggling and laughing.
Elaine had plenty of toys, a Pack 'N Play and a small child's bed for LP (which she loved - just her size). The kids went through diapers like crazy this weekend and LP had some serious diaper rash, so I made an 8:45 PM run for diapers, Maximum Strength Desitin and Bar-Be-Cue (we were starving!)
Sunday morning we did Easter eggs again, but this time LP really got into it and had a blast. CO still ate dirt, grass and added small roots to his diet. We got plenty of pictures and video. We left late Sunday morning, Nanny cried as we left (something Melinda said she always did when Chance and Courtney left Nanny's house) and headed home. There was some screaming for a while since their car naps were pretty short so we stopped for Taco Bell and they ate some grilled chicken from a burrito.
We got home, did our usual walk, ate and prepared for bed - an exhausting day that took us until Monday night to finally clean up.
Lessons Learned
- Don't pack the lawn chairs
- We don't need to take a Pack 'N Play now that both parents have beds for the kids
- Leave at 5:00 AM, not 6:00 AM so there is more sleeping going on during the travel
- Don't pack toys (since the parents have plenty)
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