July seems to have become our month to visit Texas! Because of lots of other Summer happenings (specifically Daphne's show) we have had to wait until late July to visit.
We loaded all three munchkins into the van, packed LOTS of food, blankets and dvds and drove for 19 hours straight to Texas. That's a pretty impressive amount of time since it's actually a 21 hour drive and we went 1400 miles with 3 kids. But when Matt gets going, it's hard to stop him. He just wants to be done! A lot of people ask us how we accomplish this, so here are our secrets:
1.Our biggest trick is leaving near bed time. The kids are excited but exhausted, so they are awake the first hour or so and then sleep for a good 8 hours or so of the trip and Voila! You got through 8 hours of the road trip without a single sibling argument. Genius! See- they are all in their jammies!
2. Matt is a night owl. I used to tell people that Matt is a night owl and I am a morning person, so he would take the late hours and the wee hours and then I would take a shift driving from 5 am for a few hours to let him rest. But... we discovered a couple of things that switched us over to Matt being the only driver:
a. I'm really not a very good driver.
b. I am much better at handling the children's sibling issues and snack needs and entertainment options in a tiny space.
c. He prefers driving, and I prefer taking care of the kids. Maybe that makes us like some super crazy antiquated 50's retro family, but we are happy this way, so who are you to judge?! Ha!
Ok... what was I talking about?
Oh, yeah- tricks of the trade.
3. Have a dvd player in your car and bring lots of fun, quiet activities. I always buy them each a new coloring/activity/sticker book that they have never seen, so it keeps them occupied for a good chunk of time.
4. Make the most of your stops. We pack a lunch and stop for breakfast. So... we drive all night and when they wake up we stop and eat breakfast and go to the bathroom. I usually have them go before we eat and try to go after we eat. Then we have a mini-olympics outside the McDonald's. They run races, do Jumping Jacks, stretches, etc... Then we jump in the van and try to drive as long as possible without stopping.
5. The last 2 hours are the worst, so try to avoid arriving in Dallas right in the middle of Rush Hour, like we always seem to do. Oh wait, it's always rush hour in Dallas, never mind- traffic is unavoidable there. :)
6. Matt takes a nap before we head out. It is usually only a 2 hour nap or so (although I wish it were longer) but it's enough for him to take the edge off.
7. And last but not least, Driving straight through is not for the faint of heart. Only do it if you really want to and you think your kids can take it. We always remind ourselves that the kids might not be able to make it, so we keep in mind the idea that we may need to find a Motel 6.
There. Now I have answered all my FAQs about why the heck we do that. And, looking back, it still seems pretty crazy, but we do it!
We celebrated Daphne's Birthday in Texas this year! (Again!) We had so much fun with cousins and GiGI and Grandpa Sisco!
Here is the fantastic cake hat my Mom made for her:
Isn't it cute? She loved it!
Special thanks to my fabulous sister Shelli for once again hosting a birthday for one of my children!
She got lots of cute gifts, like these darling headbands from Mema Martin (my grandmother):
And make up!
And Aunt Shelli gave her these fantastic costume headbands- all the girls are trying them on to model:
Samantha, Jillian, Daphne and Tori- These girls had so much fun playing together this week. It was so great for them to see each other again!
I had to make time to hand out with The Force! We four girls have been friends since 1994 or 5 or something crazy like that. (How are we that old?!) We sat and visited for hours and chatted and chatted while our children ran around Carole's house like crazy people. (Thanks, Carole!)
You think I am exaggerating? This is what our girls did to poor Charlotte's room while we were talking:
For the rest of the week, we pretty much just went out to Shelli's pool and swam :
and swam:
and swam:
....and swam!
My kids are such little fish now! Matt is such a great Dad- he kept pushing them and pushing them to swim longer and better and harder. By the end of the week they were doing fabulous dives and swimming under water the entire length of the pool (no breaths!) I was so proud of them!
We also spent a lot of time playing and cuddling with cousins! Tori and Jillian:
Just before we left, Mom and Shelli and I took a trip to get pedicures together- it was a fun girls day!
We were all very sad when it was time to go home. Once again, we began our journey at bedtime and the kids were worn out and emotional from having to leave their beloved GiGi and Fishers. We all shared a prayer together and jumped into the van to hit the road! We love y'all so very much and are so thankful for your support and love. Bye, Texas! See you next year!
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