We recently returned from the annual family vacation so of course a blog post is in order. It may be a little redundant since this has been a past topic but every year is a little different and worthy of a post to record the antics of driving a total of 22 hours, cramming into a hotel room twice, and staying for a week in a house with 11 adults and 10 kids (age 8 and under).
First I want to thank my parents for providing this trip for us every year. It provides so many amazing family memories that you could never put a price tag on. We love every minute of it--even the comedic tragedies you will soon read about :)
The prep for the trip starts days in advance with list and then lists of my lists and so on. We packed the minivan full of the essentials for a family of 6 --clothing for 6, 2 pack n plays, a tent, two camping mattresses, helmets x 3, swim gear, stuffed animals, books, multiple annoying noisy electronic toys that may or may not entertain a 2 year old for 11 hours, blankies, snacks--oh the snacks--, and an old person grabber stick to help hand out said snacks and pick up said stuffed animals and noisy toys when dropped to the very demanding back row passengers. The drive down was painful for sure but relatively uneventful. I was the designated van concierge (I won by default as Ryan can only go from front seat to back seat if he puts his head out the moon roof as part of the transition), feeding snacks to all every hour at least and handing out toys, books and iphones (yes, iphones--anything to entertain the masses). I had to climb into the back about 1,000 times which really put my carsickness to the test especially in the mountains. We drove as far as Charlotte and stayed in a suite type hotel. The evening started out well--we took the kids swimming and ordered in pizza. We decided to take a risk and put all 4 kids in one room so that Ryan and I could have a kid free zone for the evening and therefore wouldn't have to sit in the bathroom whispering until they fell asleep like we have had to do on other occasions. At first it went surprisingly well but then the first domino fell and it was all a blur after that. Grace woke up crying that Lydia was kicking her (their first time sharing a bed). This then woke up Lydia and subsequently Ben. Since they had a couple hours 'nap' they were now wide awake and raring to go and as Ryan described it 'like little meercats popping their heads up at every noise'. Jack miraculously stayed asleep during the first part of the evening but then decided his role was to fuss whenever the other 3 finally calmed down which kept this cycle going for the better part of the night. A few highlights:
**Lydia reported that she was afraid of the picture hanging above the couch bed--she said it had scary eyes and was looking at her. Ironically this same picture has caused sleepless nights for my sister and her husband when their son Hudson spent an evening in fear and then the following year his younger sister Bailey lived in fear of the pic as well. It is kind of freaky--see for yourself.
Someone needs to be fired for hanging this in hundreds of rooms in this particular hotel.
**Lydia ended up on the hotel floor in our room with a only sad hotel blanket and her sneetch as solace at one point after I threatened that "the next person who makes a peep will sleep on mommy and daddy's floor!'. Lydia peeped and therefore spent at least one miserable hour on the floor sniffling until I finally let her into my bed.
**Ryan eventually slept in the kids room with Grace, Ben and Jack and played the chuck E cheese whack a mole game with Ben and Grace, telling them to get in bed and go to sleep again and again--quite emphatically I might add.
Needless to say Ryan and I were both more than tired in the morning although it was humorous to compare stories--it all seemed like a bad dream. We regrouped by loaded up on the hotel breakfast and caffeine and then strapped everyone back into their 5 point harnesses to finish the last leg of the trip which was relatively uneventful other than a poop-splosion from Ben requiring a modified wet wipes bath in the public restroom, an outfit change into his slightly damp bathing suit which was the only accessible clothing at the time and a carseat washing upon arrival to the vacation house.
Stay tuned for the next installment-- highlights include: grandpa inadvertently giving spicy pickles to all the grandkids, several attempted drownings by the battles kids and explosive vomiting and diarrhea.
Ben's drawing of a 'tree'. :)
First I want to thank my parents for providing this trip for us every year. It provides so many amazing family memories that you could never put a price tag on. We love every minute of it--even the comedic tragedies you will soon read about :)
The prep for the trip starts days in advance with list and then lists of my lists and so on. We packed the minivan full of the essentials for a family of 6 --clothing for 6, 2 pack n plays, a tent, two camping mattresses, helmets x 3, swim gear, stuffed animals, books, multiple annoying noisy electronic toys that may or may not entertain a 2 year old for 11 hours, blankies, snacks--oh the snacks--, and an old person grabber stick to help hand out said snacks and pick up said stuffed animals and noisy toys when dropped to the very demanding back row passengers. The drive down was painful for sure but relatively uneventful. I was the designated van concierge (I won by default as Ryan can only go from front seat to back seat if he puts his head out the moon roof as part of the transition), feeding snacks to all every hour at least and handing out toys, books and iphones (yes, iphones--anything to entertain the masses). I had to climb into the back about 1,000 times which really put my carsickness to the test especially in the mountains. We drove as far as Charlotte and stayed in a suite type hotel. The evening started out well--we took the kids swimming and ordered in pizza. We decided to take a risk and put all 4 kids in one room so that Ryan and I could have a kid free zone for the evening and therefore wouldn't have to sit in the bathroom whispering until they fell asleep like we have had to do on other occasions. At first it went surprisingly well but then the first domino fell and it was all a blur after that. Grace woke up crying that Lydia was kicking her (their first time sharing a bed). This then woke up Lydia and subsequently Ben. Since they had a couple hours 'nap' they were now wide awake and raring to go and as Ryan described it 'like little meercats popping their heads up at every noise'. Jack miraculously stayed asleep during the first part of the evening but then decided his role was to fuss whenever the other 3 finally calmed down which kept this cycle going for the better part of the night. A few highlights:
**Lydia reported that she was afraid of the picture hanging above the couch bed--she said it had scary eyes and was looking at her. Ironically this same picture has caused sleepless nights for my sister and her husband when their son Hudson spent an evening in fear and then the following year his younger sister Bailey lived in fear of the pic as well. It is kind of freaky--see for yourself.
**Lydia ended up on the hotel floor in our room with a only sad hotel blanket and her sneetch as solace at one point after I threatened that "the next person who makes a peep will sleep on mommy and daddy's floor!'. Lydia peeped and therefore spent at least one miserable hour on the floor sniffling until I finally let her into my bed.
**Ryan eventually slept in the kids room with Grace, Ben and Jack and played the chuck E cheese whack a mole game with Ben and Grace, telling them to get in bed and go to sleep again and again--quite emphatically I might add.
Needless to say Ryan and I were both more than tired in the morning although it was humorous to compare stories--it all seemed like a bad dream. We regrouped by loaded up on the hotel breakfast and caffeine and then strapped everyone back into their 5 point harnesses to finish the last leg of the trip which was relatively uneventful other than a poop-splosion from Ben requiring a modified wet wipes bath in the public restroom, an outfit change into his slightly damp bathing suit which was the only accessible clothing at the time and a carseat washing upon arrival to the vacation house.
Stay tuned for the next installment-- highlights include: grandpa inadvertently giving spicy pickles to all the grandkids, several attempted drownings by the battles kids and explosive vomiting and diarrhea.
Ben's drawing of a 'tree'. :)
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