Road Trip!

Last week, the girls and I (along with Aunt Mandi) came back from a trip to Maryland to see my dad. He was meeting his granddaughters for the first time, and it was absolutely amazing to watch him with them. I'd say a majority of the trip was a grand success. The other parts not so much.

The girls did very, very well in the car. Our attempt to drive overnight so they would sleep didn't go quite as planned. We ended up stopping at a hotel both coming and going. Both times being more for the adults than for the children. I think next time we'll travel during the day and just have plenty of leg-stretching, energy-expressing, eating stops since it seemed the day travel went better for everyone. I'm obviously no longer a spring chicken who can stay up all day and drive all night as well.

The visit was lots of fun. We nearly abandoned all sense of schedule, which I took better than I thought. The girls actually took naps in their strollers while we were out. They loved being out and about in the city--seeing people, museums, and lots of birds. The only thing that really seemed to make them unhappy was mealtime at Dad's. There was lots and lots and LOTS of screaming and crying every single time we had a meal. Dani tipped over in one of the chairs--scaring the crap out of everyone in the room. I don't know if that fall is what triggered the unhappiness for the rest of the trip, but as long as those girls weren't up to the table having a meal, they were relatively happy. (They also didn't particularly like when I left the room, but that's not a new thing.)


We successfully survived our first long trip. I'm not so scared of taking more now. I have learned to now pack every bit of medicine they might need. Be prepared for all kinds of weather, no matter what the Weather  Channel says. Travel with painters tape or plug covers. Having single umbrella strollers is nice because they take up less room and make for easier maneuverability in museums and public transportation, but they suck when it comes to storage, so take a big backpack and deal with the bag searches.