Please indulge me this long rant about our Easter weekend. The kids had Friday, Monday and Tuesday off from school so I wanted to drive down to my brother Andy's house in southern Virginia for the weekend. He has 4 kids just like me and the cousins have tons of fun playing together. Plus, I really didn't want to be alone for another holiday. So Thursday I picked them up early from school and we took off. It is a 10 hour drive and I was determined to make it in one day (if I was desperate I could have crashed with Jacque in D.C.). On the drive down I was doing great, mostly due to our DVD player and a large Mountain Dew. But then, somewhere in central Pennsylvania, tragedy struck.
Let me back track to when I was packing for a moment. I had the thought (or inspiration?) to restock my emergency kid supplies in the van. So I made sure our first aide kit was stocked and I added a full tub of baby wipes, trash bags, gallon sized zip lock bags, motrin, and kleenex. Do you see where I might be going with this?
So back to tragedy in Pennsyvania. Shortly after we stopped for dinner at our favorite, the big M, Tyson starts screaming at me that, wait for it, Tess is throwing up. Now the benefits of having a child strapped into her car seat while she throws up is several things : first, the disgusting mess is contained in one central location; second, a car seat cover is easier to wash than car upholstery; and third, they can't wiggle around and contaminate anyone else. So, at this point I was thrilled that I had the ziplock bags and all the baby wipes. I cleaned Tess up and we were on our way.
Friday through Monday was great fun. The boys played outside on the swing, played knights, and spent hours on the X Box. The girls played with the kitchen and bothered the boys. We went on walks, watched movies and played at the playground. For Easter we hid and found Easter baskets, decorated eggs, and had an easter egg hunt. My oldest brother Macc and his wife Lisa came down from Ohio, and Jacque came down from D.C. We had a great time. I love my family.
On the way home on Tuesday, more tragedy; again in central Pennsylvania. I had stopped at a rest stop to catch a quick power nap (the Mountain Dew wasn't working as well this time) while the kids watched Tigger & Pooh the Super Sleuths. Until the dreaded scream from Zachary "Emma is throwing up!" Now remember all of those benefits of having a child strapped into a carseat when they throw up - yeah none of them apply to a 5 year old in the back seat. Needless to say I was ripped out of sleep and the boys were sent running out of the car, to get out of range and to get away from the smell. Again I was extrememly grateful that I had a trashbag and ziplock bags and baby wipes. I was also glad that I kept my picnic blankets in the back; they worked as great ad-hawk seat covers. So for the last 3 hours of our journey home we had a wonderful smell to our car. And, of course I could't air out the car by rolling down the windows because it was 40 degrees outside. I must add that I am very proud of myself for not stopping at the big M and getting a McFlurry to deal with my stress!!
All in all it was a wonderful weekend, and I will post pictures later. Central Pennsylvania, what did I ever do to you??? Oh, and I am getting my van detailed this week :-) Ron where are you???
