"The Trip" Part 1

So me and my 3 little amigos headed back to Atlanta for our first trip back since the big move to VA. The plan was for me to start the drive with just me and the boys and meet my parents 1/2 way. At that point, my mom would ride with me and we would follow my stepdad back to their house. The drive time should be about 8.5 to 9 hours not including stops. Our boys have always been fantastic travelers, so I thought it would be easy to do 4 hours on my own. Boy was I wrong!!



Mistake number 1 was leaving after Jacob's soccer game on Saturday at 11:15. We should have just waited until Sunday morning and gotten an early start. Instead we left close to lunchtime. So within only 1 hour of driving, they were ready to stop to eat, pee, and Andrew needed to nurse. Zachary went from quiet and content to screaming that he needed to pee immediately. Since he is 3 1/2 and has been potty trained since he was barely over 2, I didn't feel the urgency to pull over immediately. I told him to wait until I could get off at an exit. I had brought empty bottles along for them to pee into to save me from having to get out of the car with them. Well, Zachary proceeded to get louder and louder saying he had to go so bad. There was nowhere to pull off...the exits were so far apart where we were at the time, so I told him to keep holding it. All the sudden, his cry changed. He had wet his pants. Zachary HATES to be wet unless he is in a pool or tub. So that just freaked him out. What was even worse is that Jacob had to sit next to him while he freaked out. And Andrew didn't know what had happened.



Now that he had already had the accident, there was no urgency to pull over. I didn't have spare clothes for him unless I went digging in our bags, which I didn't want to do. So I told him to wait until we got to our lunch stop and we would clean up then. Would you believe that within that short little time he actually wet his pants again. By this time, there is a pool of pee in his booster seat and he is beside himself.



So we get to a stopping place so I can start dealing with the kids. At this point, I feel pretty stressed b/c Andrew is starting to cry b/c he is hungry. Zachary is crying b/c he is wet and Jacob is just sitting there hoping he doesn't get involved in all that is going on. I end up being able to grab underwear and pants for Zach but he has to go without a shirt. So he is somewhat cleaned up. I then get Drew out of his carseat to nurse him and believe it or not, he had a poop diaper that exploded up his back. And again I had no spare clothes in reach. So that was fun to clean that stinky mess up on the van floor. I was really thankful for the minivan at this point. Now I'm sweating and stressed and just watching the time tick away that we are losing.

Kids are now fed and clothed so we proceed forward. That one stop was an hour. At this point I'm only a little discouraged. If we only lost an hour for the whole trip, that wouldn't be so bad. But the boys ended up needing to stop 5 times in 2 hours! That was just insane to me. These boys have been trained by Steve that you just don't stop on a trip unless it is an emergency. Our first trip to VA, they only required 2 stops in 9 hours. Here we are 3 hours into our trip and have already stopped 6 times. Now I'm panicking.

Each stop to pee, I had them pee in a bottle then we hit the road. We finally had to go inside so I could use the restroom. That was a sight to see me and 3 small children crammed into 1 stall.

Long story short, we finally meet up with my parents and follow them into Atlanta. We didn't arrive to their house until almost midnight. A 9 hour trip became a 12 hour trip. When we actually got into Atlanta, I swear my blood pressure rose immediately. I forgot how rude Atlanta drivers are and how crazy they drive. It has only been 9 months that we have been away, but my defensive driving was definitely a bit rusty.

I was absolutely exhausted when we got to their house. The boys slept from about 8:00 until we arrived. So when they woke up at midnight, they didn't just go back to sleep. It was almost 1:00am before they were able to get back to sleep. Then Andrew was off schedule and was up at 3:00 am (he normally gets up around 4:00 to eat). He went back to sleep and cried on and off from 4:30 until 6:30. So Sunday morning, I felt like a train had hit me.

So Sunday is our first full day. The boys are ecstatic because my sister's family was coming over for the day. My mom, sister, and I were heading out to do some shopping. Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy so the kids were stuck inside all day.

I will stop for today...check back tomorrow for more of our trip adventures!