Adventures of the pregnant homeless lady...we're on our way!

DAY ONE:

We got up and moving early, early, early (3:30 a.m.) by the time we got the kids loaded in their seats, returned the air mattresses (HUGE thanks to the Dunn family), and made a last minute stop at Wal-Mart (don't ask, it was all Dan) we were en route about 4:30. The kids did GREAT. All four went back to sleep for a little while and were very pleasant all day. Well, most of the day. We managed to make the 10 hour drive in 11 hours, not bad considering we had a few stops here and there.

Speaking of stops, GENIUS idea by us to buy the cargo carrier for the top of the car. This allowed us enough extra room to bring some sporting goods...at lunch time we found a rest area and after our little picnic the big boys played baseball while Katherine rode her scooter and Aaron played on Tyler's skateboard. They got out their wiggles and all found their happy and/or nap faces for the last few hours of the drive. Genius.

We had many successes today. We drove through 4 states and crossed off 26 license plates including Hawaii (in Alabama?!?...weird, but we'll take it). We managed to keep screen time to 3 hours or less for each kiddo, not bad at all. Only one major meltdown--by Aaron, just before nap time--and a great evening at the hotel. We got here at 3:30 so we had time to swim and play before dinner. Everyone was sleeping by 9:30 so hopefully tomorrow will be just as good.

Okay, I do have to admit it wasn't all roses...Aaron did vomit...ugh. He slept the last 3 hours of the drive (excellent) and woke up just as we pulled into the hotel parking lot. Dan got out of the car to check us in, Aaron looks up, smiles, and says 'Hi Mommy!' then proceeds to give me 'that look' (come on Moms, you know it). I tried so hard to get him out of his carseat in time but barely missed it. He threw up but most of it was on his clothes and I was able to clean the carseat easily--and at least it was in the hotel parking lot and not somewhere along the road. The hotel has a laundry room so I threw a load in and all is well. He threw up a few times in the room but has plenty of energy, no fever, and managed to keep down dinner so I think it was more of a 'travel tummy' than real illness. At least that's what I'm telling myself. PLEASE don't let this be 'that vacation'...you know what I mean, every family has at least one 'everyone got the stomach flu in the car' story. We will have enough adventure this summer, we don't need that story.

Okay, that's it for today. I am so ready to sleep on an actual bed...I'd already be asleep but Dan keeps yelling at the TV...the Lakers need to find a way to win tonight--I need a happy driver tomorrow! Welcome summer to everyone!