Anyway, I'm not in the blogging mood....Buhhhh-uuutttt....I can't let my mood or life lead me to forget the many memories that we created (the whole reason why I do this blog). I have to jot at least SOME of them down!!! Here goes....
I do believe that I made a list of lessons learned from our vacation last summer. So, I find it appropriate that I take the same approach, here.
1. Bring a potty seat. So, our car was rather loaded down. It was SO loaded down that we had to remove one of the back seats to make more room. When you're taking half the house, even the largest cars do not have enough room. Therefore, I was a bit torn between whether or not to bring one of the potty seats. After all, the kids can sit on big potties AND there would be two in our room (in case of those we-both-have-to-go-NOW situations). Why would we need the potty seat and why should we take up more room packing it? Well, Cody was the wise one and insisted that we pack it....THANK GOODNESS. Why? Well, it wasn't too far into our trip that we needed a potty break. We stopped at a clean service station...no potty seat needed. It wasn't fifteen minutes later that another break was needed....oh, geez! Cameron has the whole potty outside thing down. Faith, however, not so much. Potty seat to the rescue. Yep....right there in a parking lot.....and I'm sure she will LOVE me for posting this one once she is all grown up!
2. Weigh your options: Screaming kids or millions of potty breaks. Okay. So I will admit. The two potty breaks in the amount of fifteen minutes was likely my fault...entirely. I gave them juice...a lot of it....BUT...in my defense, Mallory was screaming her head off!!! Juice makes all things better!!! Of course, when you offer it to one you must provide for all...hence the need to potty....frequently. To me, I will stop all day if it means the kids are happy. Screaming in the car is not enjoyable...at all. Did I mention that Cody was threatening to put a kid on the roof less than two hours in?.....hilarious!
3. Take an extra car seat...and put it in a different car ;). Yep. Pat and YaYa took an extra car seat...thank you Lord. When we got enough of the screaming child (aka...Mallory), we passed her own to Pat and YaYa. It was NICE.
4. Navigation doesn't impress everyone. Although I don't go too many places in which I don't know where I am going, I have been SUPER excited about using my navigation system several times in the last couple of months. What did we ever do without the thing? Maps????.....who needs them???!!! However, not everyone is as impressed as I am. Cameron specifically. I got SO tickled at this kid. Any time the navigation lady came on to prompt us (interrupting Cam's movie), he would yell, "Too loud. HUSH!!!" This kid cracks me up.
5. Not everyone is cut out for the beach....and you can't make them. I'm a beach bum. I can't understand WHY anyone would not be. I mean, who wouldn't want sand stuck to them as they burn and sweat in the sun???!!! Anyway, Faith LOVE, LOVED it. She liked the sand...and I think she even like the ocean...although the big water can be scary! Cameron and Mallory, on the other hand...well....they were less enthusiastic. Cameron didn't want to touch the sand. Mallory didn't want to be five feet near the sand. We kept trying each day....but...OH WELL. There's always next year! ;)
6. Expect the unexpected. Yep. I packed the first-aid kit and the children's Advil, but I didn't really think that I would NEED either....BUT....what do you know? Mallory had a fever on day two (and I felt super bad about it because I pretty much think that she had it LONG before we discovered it). I prefer Tylenol for fevers (we usually do the 8 hour Advil for all night teething issues)....did I pack that???....uhhhh....NO. Next time, I will be packing all medications in the medicine cabinet.
7. Meal-time will either be bearable or disastrous....never pleasurable. Well. This is really not a lesson learned. This is just a given around here. Even if the kids are good, the work of keeping them happy or making sure that they are well taken care of can make me a nervous wreck. So...that would be bearable. Then, there are the dinners that are a disaster. Let's see....I think it was the meal at Bubba Gump's? YEP...who could forget? Before our dinner came out, I had already switched seats with Cody to TRY and pacify Mallory, we had each been outside with her, AND Cameron had gotten choked and melted down. At the end of the meal, only three of us were left at the table (out of a party of 12), and I was craving an alcoholic beverage. Needless to say, that was our last night out....
8. Order in. Yep. The next night, we ordered in. It was great. We still were able to eat a good meal, we didn't have the wait, we had time to do something afterwards, AND the kids were HAPPY!!! WOOHOO!!!
9. Spend some one-on-one time. I NEVER have one-on-one time with my individual kids. One afternoon, Cameron was not interested in going down to the beach (imagine that) and Mallory was napping. So, I took little Faith with me, and we had some alone time. It was great (and seemed super easy!!!)!!! I am making a note to try this more often (with each one of the kiddos).
...and FINALLY....
10. It just keeps getting better. Although there were SOME difficult times during the trip, I thought that my kids did SUPER well. For the most part, they were well-behaved and as sweet as pie. This is our third beach trip since having children, and I think that it was by far the smoothest and most pleasurable. It keeps me looking forward to more trips to come. Oh, how I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these babies!!!
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