road trippin'

with my two favorite allies:



fully loaded we've got snacks and supplies:



it's time to leave this town, it's time to steal away.
let's go get lost anywhere in the u.s.a.
let's go get lost, let's go get lost...

my mom flew out on thursday night and we packed the car and hit the road on sunday morning for the kids first cross-country drive. after a rough start (i think the kids sensed that this wasn't our normal salt lake to provo drive) things calmed down and the kids did surprisingly well. even on his third week in 'unnerwears', nashy boy was a star! going potty (including number two) on the side of the road in the middle of wyoming and nebraska is no easy task for a 2.5 year old! i think i may actually market some sort of road trippin potty training method because i can now say that he is officially potty trained! he only had one accident on the whole trip and it was in his sleep (yes, i'm a proud mommy). he finally cleared his big hurdle-he's telling me when he needs to go instead of me having to ask him (which i forget to do).

and sweet havey was nearly an angel-i am constantly amazed at how easygoing she is. nash got to get out of the car quite a bit with all his potty-going, but haven remained strapped in during most of it and was still the happiest girl. we took a few fun stops at the little america playground and cabella's to feed the ducks. nash saw his first windmills and prarie dogs, crossed the mississippi (he can say it like it's no big deal), and went through his first tunnel (i think? either way he thought it was pretty cool). haven had a first as well once we arrived home at 3 am on monday/tuesday: she slept with me in my bed! bevie is so jealous-she's not a snuggler and definitely likes to sleep in her own space, but she didn't want to go into the strange crib at grandma's so i took her to bed with me and she went with it! that right there made the whole trip worth it.

***i'm looking at this trip through the rose-colored glasses that come with a few days rest afterward. so before you think you should pack up the minivan and tour all the national parks or something, read on: there were definitely some moments where i wanted to strangle myself. like sunday night at 11(after the hours of scary thunderstorms) when both kids were crying (not sleeping). which, despite sleep aids, meant i couldn't sleep either. and wasn't sleep the whole reason we were making this trip? so we got a hotel and all was right in the world for a few hours. and then there was the constant dropping of toys and sippy cups which led to my being unstrapped from my seatbelt for 90% of the trip. oops. also not my idea of good rest-climbing back and forth from back seat to front seat. then there was the raffi cd, the elmo dvd, and the constant children's entertainment drilling holes in our heads...but that's just motherhood-on the road or not, right?