March 18

Home.

After over twelve hours in the car today, we are finally home. Our trip was mostly uneventful, save for the fact that Lily basically refuses to nurse in the car or at a rest stop or in a restaurant or at a park or anywhere new and interesting, and that dreadful Daisy-pooping-in-her-pants incident (guess we should have listened to her, but we were on the Turnpike!), and the fact that Lily cried for pretty much the last hour of the trip.

But our drive - both ways - was saved by the portable DVD player GREAT Aunt Maggie got the kids a few years back, and we had a great visit with Grace and Adam and their doggies, and it's all over now. So all in all, I call it a win.

My mom gave us money to buy the kids presents/souvenirs/whatever their little hearts desired, so on our way out of town we stopped at a truck stop to pick something out. I tried desperately to make the kids pick something "Texas-y", like cowboy hats or something similar, but they weren't interested. Instead, they were delighted to pick a Princess Ariel doll and a "Snot Rod" car. Caleb was over-the-moon excited to find Snot Rod; in the movie Cars, there are four hot rods named Wingo, DJ, Boost (we call him Purple Robot), and Snot Rod. We have had the first three cars for a few years, but we've never had Snot Rod. Now, Caleb's set is complete.

Today consisted of driving, stopping, eating, playing, driving, stopping, eating, playing, going to the bathroom... you get the idea. So I didn't take any pictures. At our last play stop, though, the kids were having such fun that Chris took a few pictures.

Look! All three playing together!

Hi Lily!

Sweet Lulu likes the abacus!

Daisy is an excellent climber.

So happy to not be in the car!

It was a great trip, but we're all so happy to be home!

And here are my big camera pictures:

This is what "nap time" looked like while we drove. Just as one (or two, or three) of the kids fell asleep, another began crying for whatever reason. It was ridiculous, but by this point Chris and I were immune to crying and we were just soldiering through the drive. 

But our big four-year-old napped really well in the car. Do you notice he was still clutching Snot Rod, even as he slept? Funny boy.