Take a road trip with your kids, I dare you!

So, it's been about a month since the kids and I roadtriped. It's taken me that long to get over the trauma of it all. (Just kidding, kind of)

My college suite mate is pregnant and needy and suggested we come up to keep her company. I laughed. Then, I thought, why not? We could stretch the trip out, just me and the kids (John would stay home, someone had to work, and as a bonus he could drink beer and play with his friends for a week). I started to form a plan, we could stop in Winston-Salem to spend the night with cousin Scarlett, spend a couple of nights with Dana and stay at a hotel on the way back. Perfect. I bought snacks, ice, juice, rounded up change for the vending machines and packed and repacked. I decided the yard sale funds would be our fun money (way over shot that budget, but we'll get to that). Then the storm rolled in, it blanketed my route with ice and snow, then did it all over again. Maybe it was a sign, I didn't take it. We left 2 days later.

Whoo-hoo! On the road, we took our Dramamine and the kids fell asleep before I hit the interstate. Cool. Overall, the kids were warriors, they wanted to keep going, just to get there. I was sick of eating at places with playlands, but happy for the outlet of screaming and running. We discovered the joy of velcro vegetables that could be 'cut' with a plastic knife, got Scarlett to play hooky from school and got to sled down a hill of melted and refrozen snow in W-S. Oh, and I locked my keys in the trunk. We made $112 from the yard sale and that locksmith cost me $45. Then we headed to VA. I found Dana's quickly on the cul-de-sac, there way a Georgia flag on the door. The Loud One jumped out of the car and ran right up to her like they were old friends. She gave them a snack (cheese, they love cheese, she was making fast friends), the Kitty does what she always does. Shoved her mouth too full, activated her overly sensitive gag reflex and puked on Dana's carpet. Did I mention we had just gotten there?

Dana had an upstairs, napkins made out of different colored shirts (cloth napkins), and dogs!!! However, there was not a TV in the bedroom. The Loud One expressed his frustration by looking at me and sighing, "I KNEW you should have brought your TV!!" We had hot dogs, cinnamon rolls and noodles. Perfect. We went to the museum, the aquarament (aquarium), out to dinner and on the last night, we went to a ho-en-tell (hotel--what a vacation really is.)

The next day, we didn't get too far, the kids were cranky so we stopped at The Carolina Premium Outlets to make ourselves feel better. We got a dinosaur puzzle, a cupcake bake set, some place mats you can practice drawing numbers and letters on, and some new pajamas, that more than took care of the $67 we had left. We never got back on the road, we just found a ho-en-tel that had an indoor pool and checked in. Later, Kitty lost her mind and I was afraid someone would call Child Protective Services because when she she's tired and opposed to sleeping, it gets ugly. (There's a video on my FB page if you don't believe me) I went in the bathroom and cried. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" is all I wanted to say. Then when I came out, The Loud One started crying and saying Kitty ruined his day. She stopped screaming and she was sad, she didn't wanna ruin his day (what about mine?!), so we talked about what a fun day we had, then we watched some Garfield and went to sleep.

We went to a huge discount store (complete with ashtrays at the end of the aisles). Got some more crap, and when I tried to give Kitty her Dramamine, she got mad and thew up. Good thing I have paper towels in my car!!! We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and running, and she threw up all over the lobby right as they were giving us the tray. I went to get napkins, she followed me and had her hand over her mouth, she puked again spewing it thru her fingers. The workers didn't care, so I wiped it up, and put a chair over it. Then Kitty was hungry so we washed our hands and I put her coat on over the pukey shirt and we sat down and ate and played on the outside playland. We went potty before we left and Kitty had pooped, then The Loud One didn't aim so well because he was looking at all the graffiti. I didn't bring a diaper in, wait, I didn't have any diapers. Crap. Aha! There was a swim diaper in the car, I cleaned her up, put on her pants and prayed she didn't pee on the way to the car. I then changed her in the parking lot for the second time that day--and it was only 1pm. We got diapers and back on the road again we went!!

We made it Augusta and stopped at Denny's, they slept most of the way, and apparently the Kitty peed the whole way. We sat down, ordered drinks and food, and as we were about to go to the potty, my leg was wet. It wasn't me. Kitty had sprung a leak. Dammit, I never changed her out of the swim diaper!!! I took her to the bathroom, I had a diaper, put I had to strip her, there was peep (what they call pee-pee) up her back down into her shoes. Her socks were soaked!! WTH happened? So, we got her clean, and I had to carry her out with only a coat and diaper on out to the car for her third wardrobe change. This was getting grosser as time went on. They were all wound up so we stayed at another hotel--I was also afraid of what would happen next. With good reason, she filled a diaper I d set outside the door. This is where The Loud One got the TV to the video game menu and as I came in with the ice, whispered to Kitty to push the orange button. Noooooooooo, I said in slow-mo. Too late, they had bought 60 minutes of video games. A 5 year old and a 2 year old, trying to play Mario Cart and Kirby with one controller.

We slept until 10:50am and rushed for check out. We eventually stopped at Cracker Barrel for brunch and thankfully, it was uneventful. We bought some more crap at the gift shop and then no one wanted to stop again until we got home. Home sweet home!! We got to see Nana and Daddy and tell them all about it. They were happy to be in their beds and so was I. The next day we slept in and as we were unpacking The Loud One wanted to help me pack.

"You mean, UN-pack, that's when you put your stuff away."
"No, I mean pack, let's get on the road again!"
"Really?" I asked incredulously, "Don't you like being home?"
"Yes, but I loved being with you and Kitty all day and all night and all day and all night."

Me too, (mostly), but it'll be a while...