road trip!

I think it was the random 3 inches of snow that put me over the edge and made me decide to take a road trip to WA 2 days after my hubby got home! It sure feels like a blur, but my sister and I decided last wed night to go home to Edmonds WA, we left Thursday and came home today. The boys had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa Church, lots of picture to post. I love that they know who their grandparents are, it is soo sweet. I could sleep for about 24 hrs straight to recover from the 26hrs of driving that I did (have calluses on my hands and my booty is sore)! So more about the trip later, we are safe and sound and happy to be home! Here are a few things I learned while driving with 2 boys and a sister...

• When all else fails, feed the kids Cheetos for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• don't forget to roll up the 3yr old's window when he is playing with a balloon.
• DON'T sit 2 kids right next to each other, EVER (we unfortunately did the 26hrs with them together)
• it may be nice to only take a limited selection of DVDs that the driver is OK with listening too over and OVER and OVER again (we all now have Polar express and Over the Hedge memorized, thanks Ethan)
• when traveling long distances with 2 little boys you may want to cover the entire floor of your car with something you can pull up and throw away like a shower curtain or old sheet!
• you'll know your 18mo old is getting bored when he shoves everything up his pajama pant for a hiding spot and goes back hours later to eat whatever is still left up there, or better after the trip is done and he is toddling around in the kitchen and grapes fall out big brother will pick them up and eat them too!
• you cannot depend only on the GPS voice command, or solely on the picture, or only on the written route number you MUST use all three together or the GPS is useless!
• A little sister is great company for giggles and laughs and willing to get up at the crack of dawn with a chipper face and ready to entertain the kids when I am ready to kill them.
• When in Oregon, DO NOT try to pump your own gas, you'll get weird looks AND get yelled at by the "gas police" aka "gas pump guy who takes his job way too seriously". I'm still not sure if your supposed to tip them, he hesitated before taking my money so I can't decide if I have cooties or just got bamboozled!