Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Thursday, June 26, 2014

First Vacation

I've been busy with summer school this week but meant to write a post about our first road trip with the babies. 

A couple of weeks ago we made a trek down to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas for a family reunion. It is about a 6.5 hour drive but it took us 7.5 hours.

I was really worried about the trip for multiple reasons:
1. 7.5 hours! How would we do this?
2. What if they won't sleep at our condo? They have only slept in their house for their whole lives.
3. A family reunion doesn't support their nap schedule very well.

However, they did AWESOME! I was so pleasantly surprised by how they did. Yes, there were some hiccups...but for the most part, it was such a great trip. We got to hang out with family that we rarely see. We got to get away from real life for a bit. We got to see a portion of the country we never have seen before.

We decided to leave right after feeding them breakfast. So we got out of the house around 8:30-8:45 by the time we dropped off our dog at the PetHotel and loaded the car. The babies stayed up for about an hour just looking out the window. (They have always been pretty good about riding in the car for short jaunts to my parents' house about 45 minutes away.) They fell asleep and slept for about an hour. When they woke up, we decided to stop and change them. We found a gas station and just used the front seats.

The next couple hours...they were awake! We had lots of snacks, sippys, bottles, and toys readily available. I think they might have ate half a can of Gerber Graduates Lil' Crunchers. They love those cheeto-like things! Around the time we entered Arkansas...they were done. Max wanted nothing to do with food, drink, or toys. So...we stopped for lunch. Good ole' Dennys!

They were able to get changed, eat, and  play around a bit. They got back in the car willingly and were happy. They sang songs, giggled, and talked. In order to get into Hot Springs, you must travel a long scenic by-way that is a steep mountainous road that winds around for an hour. Before we entered that highway, we stopped again to let them sit in the front seat and drink a bottle. (For the record, we started weaning from the bottles and now they only get them morning and night.)

They slept the rest of the way there (1-1.5 hours). When we arrived, they couldn't have been happier to see family, roam around, play with their toys, and explore the new digs.

We definitely were not on their normal schedules. We tried to nap when we knew the family was going to be hanging around our condos. My parents gave us their master bedroom and they took the guest room. It was so nice of them! We could fit both pack and plays and separate them so they couldn't disturb each other. I don't think they went to sleep until after 9pm every night which is SO not like them. The last night there was the only bad night. Harper did not want to sleep. I think she got so exhausted that she wouldn't sleep. She finally went to sleep around 2am. Seriously! Jeremy and I took turns holding her.

It was sad to leave but the babies were SO tired and we were too. The drive home was splendid!! We stopped twice. Once to eat lunch and change them. Another time to change them and give bottles. When we got home, they were ready to eat and sleep in their own beds. (Us too!)

I wish I had special tricks to share with you guys. But what worked for us was to stop and not rush to get there. Our car was packed as to where we had everything they needed easily accessible.

It was such a great time!!

(BTW...2 weeks until they are ONE!!! We just got their cakes ordered today. Crazy!)




Neither were thrilled of the water at first...


But they loved it after they got used to it!
Plus these floaties were amazing!

She loves lemons!

Bring all of their toys and cups are better entertainment




So many cousins to play with!

Downtown Hot Springs

One of the hot springs


I love this picture of Harps

Our car packed!!
One of our stops
My little family
















-Lisa-

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Three...more...days!

NaBloPoMo is almost over. As much as I have enjoyed this challenge, I have also dreaded it. With a passion. Hate, actually. I really don't think I am that interesting to have something to say everyday. I was used to posting once maybe twice a week. And to be honest, even then I had nothing interesting to say!

My prompt for today is "What is the worst trip you have taken?"

I love traveling no matter where we are going. Jeremy and I have not had a single bad vacation/trip. Even the trip we took days after recovering from OHSS and a cancelled IVF was amazing. So in order to answer this prompt, I have to go way back to 1993.

My parents bought a timeshare in Branson, MO. For those of you that don't know the country-wonder of Branson, I suggest you google it. No, really do it now. It is the back-woods Vegas. I will admit, present-day Branson is an okay weekend trip. There are shows, theme parks, beautiful views, and their new downtown area.

However, the location is not the reason for Branson 1993 being the worst trip. My parents condo is a two bedroom condo with a pull out couch. It is lovely. We even used it a couple summers ago with some friends. It is fairly large with a patio that opens up to a creek. Really peaceful. Not in 1993. Let's make a run down of my family situation then. I was 10. My brother was 21 and single. My sister was there with her husband. My brother was there with his wife and 1 year old daughter. Then there were also my parents. We had another hotel location so it wasn't too cramped.

Too many different personalities in the mix. Too many ideas for our plans. Embarrassment. Arguments. Too much time spent together. (Yes, there is such a thing.)

I remember many awkward moments of me in the backseat of the car or in the condo listening to bickering of what our plans were or where we were going next, etc.

It was decided that family vacations are a bad idea. In fact, we have yet to all go on a week long vacation with everyone again. And now that family has grown to 16 (soon to be 17 when my niece gets married). So I am thinking another family vaca is out...possibly forever.

-Lisa-