Thursday, December 21, 2006

13 Things About Our Christmas Road Trip (#19)


Every year around Christmas time, we loop the state of Kansas, stopping off to visit everyone’s families. On Wednesday, we drove down to my parents’ house, which is about a 3 ½ hour drive. With children, bathroom breaks and stops for lunch, it is well over a four-hour drive. Here are a few things about our trip so far:

1. Rain – It was raining buckets. It can be perfectly clear for 30 days out of the month, but it either rains or snows the one day we travel. Every freaking year.

2. Sleeping hand – My daughter was very fussy on the trip down. The only thing that calmed her was if I reached back and patted her rhythmically. If I stopped, she began screaming. By the time we got to our destination, I could no longer feel my left arm.

3. Email addiction – Okay, I may officially be an email addict. I checked my email twice on my phone on the way down.

4. DVD addiction – My son is a DVD addict. He came equipped with a portable DVD player, six DVDs and earbuds. And he’s only four. I know this is really my fault, but it makes the trip much smoother.

5. Evil McDonalds – A few months ago, I related how the McDonald’s on the turnpike refused to sell me a four-piece chicken mcnuggets for Georgia. They said they did not have a four-piece. Grrrrr. . . Today, we bought her a Happy Meal. Guess how many chicken mcnuggets came with it? FOUR! The bastards.

6. Lack of sleep – I always have the delusional hope that Georgia will sleep in the car. Well, she did finally fall asleep. Ten minutes before we reached our exit.

7. Kakuro – I love to play Kakuro, and car trips are the only time I have time to do it. I was patting Georgia with one hand, and filling in numbers with the other. I’m great at multi-tasking.

8. XM Radio – Eric loves his XM Radio. I get to listen to it when we go on car trips. I love the Satellite Sisters! I might have to get my own XM Player just so I can hear them on a regular basis.

9. Cell phone ringtones – I have programmed my cell phone so that each person in my phone book has their own ring. I have tried to fit each ring to the person’s personality. When people call me in the car, this always creates a lot of discussion with Eric. Sometimes amusement, and sometimes he just doesn’t get the correlation between the ringtone and the person. It's always fun when he attempts to figure out how my mind works.

10. Cows – I always think you can predict the weather by looking at what the cows are doing. (Travelling through Kansas, you pass a lot of cows.) Eric disagrees with me. I think we argue about this on every single road trip.

11. Potty – Every time we come near a bathroom, I ask Eli 10 times if he needs to go. He always says, “NO!” And then the second we pass the rest stop and the sign that says, “Next exit, 33 miles,” I hear, “Mommy! I need to go to the bathroom!” It never fails.

12. Moose Forest – You can’t even imagine the number of deer crossing signs on the highway. (aka Moose signs) This sparks a lot of animated discussion from Eli about all the “Moose Forests” we’re passing.

13. Luggage – At Christmas, it’s always a fun challenge to see how much we stuff in our car. The real challenge doesn’t come until we drive home with all the presents. We can usually barely get the trunk shut. Maybe on the way home, we'll strap one of the children to the roof.



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18 comments:

Unknown said...

well i know that you are right about the cows and the weather. Grew up around too many farms not to believe it! they huddle up in tornadic conditions!

Anonymous said...

#13 is the real reason I dislike traveling. I hate packing. Even an over night trip for a family of 5 takes way too much stuff. Enjoy your trip and have a Merry Christmas!!

Unknown said...

I love to hear about trips and I am sure you had a good time

Laura said...

aggghhh i'm having flashbacks. we stay home and let the fam and friends come to us. of course just our sheer numbers encourages this.
my tt is up.

Unknown said...

That´s a great list (smiling at #11)- like I used to find it every time I visit your TT

Merry Christmas to you and yours,
San
P.S.: Please visit my TT #6 - Thanks a lot!

Melissa said...

Sounds familiar. My left arm fell asleep the other night while patting my 1-year old's leg in the car. You gotta do what you gotta do to preserve your sanity!

Michelle said...

Road trips can be so fun and so rough at the same time.

Happy TT!

Christina_the_wench said...

Checking yuor emails on your phone is an addiction? Dammit. And I was doing so good too...

Unknown said...

I think they should just post deer crossing signs at the entry point to the state and leave it at that.
We are so blessed with family we usually can't pack everything in for the trip home.
My TT is up.

Mo and The Purries said...

Blogger wouldn't let me comment this morning...
anyway: so glad it was YOU and not me in that vehicle!
Although, I did like the strap one of the kids to the roof idea...

Have a fun visit with the folks!
ho ho ho
mo

Sparky Duck said...

Those McDonald's people are scrooges

SQT said...

My husband is stuck in the 70's with ringtones. When I call him it's either David Cassidy and "I think I love you" or Olivia Newton John and "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

I wonder if I am supposed to be the giver or the recipient of the sentiment? Either way works I guess.

Oh, and what's the deal with McD's? First Borders and now this. What happened to customer service people??

matthew said...

Wow. First Borders and now McDonalds. Evil corporations!

Have a good trip.

Joely Sue Burkhart said...

Oh, boy, I hear you on the potty breaks! With three girl monsters, two of them under 4, I spend my whole life in the bathroom.

Emma said...

Excellent list.

Anonymous said...

Hoping you have a safe and happy vacation! Happy TT & Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Have a safe trip

Happy TT

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

oh i know about the cow thingy! i just never knew anyone else did! like they lay down when it is going to rain, right? well, do you do the leaves on the side of the road thingy? they turn upside-down when it is about to rain? (found you from mo!) bee