Hubby, Kiddo and I are going to go on a short road trip to visit hubby's older sister and her hubby. Since they moved to their current house we have not been to visit (~2 years). In our defense its 7-8 hours drive to get there, Kiddo is still very young (she will be 3 in November), and we did fly across the country last year (spending lots of $ to do so) for their wedding.
This will be Kiddo's first road trip that lasts longer than 3 hours (previous ones were to weddings and the airport). The longest trip we have taken her on to date was last year when we went to that wedding. I have to admit that though I was extremely worried about how she would behave during our two flights there and back I can't complain... mostly because she slept almost the whole flight, every flight. But I am sure that was a fluke and in any case I can't expect her to sleep for 8 hours straight, and not keep us up all night afterwards.
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Here is my hope for how the hours in the car will be spent.
~12:30pm - Leave town (we would leave earlier but some of us have to work at least a few hours)
~1-1:30 - Stop and grab some lunch. This should keep Kiddo busy for a little while. Hopefully until ~2pm
After we finish eating I am banking on her taking her nap.
Nap ~2 hours so. Let’s say ~4-4:30pm.
By the time she is waking up we could probably stop and get gas if needed. Since she will have to use the potty anyways once she gets up. That gives us a few minutes to get out and move around some.
Back on the road shortly after. Still would have ~4 hours to entertain her. But I will be prepared!
· Movies for the DVD player - Tangled, Shaun the Sheep, Dora, Elmo, + a few others
· Snacks and Drinks - healthy and not so healthy options
· Magna doodle
· Games and Crafts
Arrive ~ 8:30pm give or take. Hopefully with sanity still intact.
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Here is the more likely scenario:
~ 2pm Leave town because someone ended up working later than we hoped. Due to this we have already eaten lunch but will instead snack the whole way.
~2:15 Kiddo is bored... we haven't even gotten out of the county yet!
~2:30 After attempts at entertaining her with toys and games listed above fail, the first movie is turned on.
~3pm Finally there is silence as she falls into a slumber.
~3:30pm Hubby gets cut off and yells obscenities loudly waking Kiddo up. Grrr. Time to stop for potty break. Lots of protests to getting back in the car... mostly by me.
~4pm Forced back into the van. Attempts to entertain are futile.
~5pm Lots of tears by everyone.
~6pm Stop for gas and bathroom breaks. Decide to have dinner. Happiness is fleeting as our order is incorrect and Kiddo is unhappy with her meal.
~ 7pm Since napping was elusive bedtime comes early for Kiddo.
~8:30pm Nope I was wrong it wasn't bedtime, just a nap and now its over. Screams of "let me out" fill the van. She doesn't care where Dora is going or when Rapunzel's life will begin.
Arrive ~10pm, there are no sane thoughts in our heads. We are already dreading the drive back in a few days and thus have decided to relocate altogether to save ourselves the trouble. Drinking may ensue after Kiddo is in bed for the night.
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I will let you know how the trip goes and all the sites we see. Knowing our luck the weather will be crap and Kiddo will be a grouch the whole time.
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