THE Trip From...

As you may know, last Saturday my mom, the girls, the dogs and I started out drive to Kansas from Maine.  First we went to Disney on Ice in Portland and then at about 1pm EST, we started our journey West.  And let me tell you - was it ever a journey...

Our original intent was to drive straight through.  Ha - that's funny.  Anyway...  Things started out smoothly.  Light snow in Maine, but nothing to slow us down.  We made it through Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut before things got crazy.  After 3 exits to find an "Easy On, Easy Off" fast food option, we finally took a "tour" of Danbury, CT, just to get dinner.  From there we traveled through New York and into Pennsylvania where we were greeted by snow.  Somewhere in PA, at around 10 at night, Aria was complaining that she didn't feel good.  We pulled off at a gas station and I climbed into the back just in time to "catch" her puke.  Fabulous.  (I think that she only puked because she had so much junk draining into her throat and she gets really upset easily when she doesn't feel well.)

After I got Aria calmed down and Brielle changed, we continued on.  However, by 1am, my mom and I were both too tired to continue driving.  I had only gotten about 4 hrs of sleep the night before because both Aria and Brielle had rough nights.  I was also not able to nap in the car because - without fail every time I would fall asleep - one of the girls would wake up crying - thus waking the other child and anyone else in the car.  We pulled off the snowy roads and found a Super 8.  They accepted dogs and said they had a crib for Brielle, so we were golden - or so we thought...

It turns out that they didn't have a crib of any sort after all.  So we had to block off a section between both beds for Brielle to sleep.  By now, it was 2am.  I finally got Brielle down and Aria quiet, when I then tried to get some sleep.  However, Brady (my Corgi) had other ideas.  She started puking, but neither my mom nor myself got up in time to get her out the door.  This began an ENTIRE night of her puking.  The only person that slept in those short 4 hrs, was Brielle and she was woken up by Bailey (my lab) jumping down into her "pen" and sitting on her.  When we got up, we found 8 piles of yak from Brady.  L o v e l y...  Then at 6-something, the car alarm on my van randomly went off.  I had to go out in the bitter cold and snow and try to figure out how to get it to turn off.  (Mind you I had no boots or winter attire because I was headed to warmer Kansas where I wouldn't need that.) 

By about 8am EST, we finally had the puke cleaned up, the two cranky kids, the three dogs and our stuff all loaded back into the van to continue our journey.  My mom and I had decided that we wanted Subway for breakfast, so we took the first exit that said it had one. 

They didn't open until later. 

Dejectedly, we continued on. 

We tried another exit and the person that made the sandwiches was not in the store yet.  (Dumb - turn off your "Open" sign then...)

Third times a charm and we FINALLY found an open Subway an were able to get some food. 

After that, the rest of the drive was fairly uneventful - after we got out of snowy PA.  We were dead tired and delirious by the time we arrived at my parent's home at 1:30am Central Time Monday morning.  We unloaded what we needed and wearily climbed into bed.  Too bad the kids didn't sleep in the next morning though...

It has taken me most of the week to get out of the "jet-lag" from that trip.  For those who are calculating - it took us over 36 hrs to get here.  I had to reset the passwords on both of my email accounts because I couldn't remember them at all.  I've been walking around most of this week in a fog.  Hopefully that fog will lift and I can enjoy the rest of my time here.

And we better not experience a repeat-performance on the way home...

Two-Thumbs Down

Today gets a big two-thumbs down. 

I don't know if it is because today is a full moon or is something else is going on, but today just plain stunk. 

I should have known that today wasn't going to be stellar when I found a magnet from one of the girls' books in Brielle's poopy diaper.  It wasn't there because she had eaten it - it was there because her sister put it down her shirt and consequently it went into her diaper.  This was followed by a full day of Aria being defiant and downright disobedient.  Usually she just has her moments, but today was just one big "moment". 

Added to my fun today was when Kodi and Bailey decided to bolt for the road and bother a guy that was out walking his Chocolate Lab along with his baby in a stroller.  That guy was less than pleased with my dogs and later paid me a visit.  He informed me that he called animal control.  Luckily - there were no prior complaints about my dogs, so they won't do anything - yet.  I now have a "record" and I have been verbally warned.  Fabulous.

To top off my day - Aria decided that it would be a good idea to eat the ENTIRE tube of her toothpaste while I was putting Brielle to bed.  Awesome.  Now I shall wait for her stomach ache that is likely to follow.

So basically I have lost all control.  I can't control my kids and I can't control my dogs.

If I drank, I would likely be doing that right now.  Instead, I am searching for some chocolate......

Just Another Day at the Funny Farm

Some days are better than others.  While my mind and heart weigh heavy today for my cousin and her new baby, there have been a few bright spots.

Brielle has started making "Popeye" faces every time I attempt to feed her something.  It's funny - and she knows it - so she does it all the time.  Today, I caught it on the camera...

Silly girl.

After I put her down for her nap, I couldn't find the cat.  I searched high and low for him and even snuck back into Brielle's room to see if he was hiding in there.  No cat.  Then Kodi showed me where the cat was...

That is him - literally squeezed under the recliner, next to the foot stool.  Better than the table, I suppose - I just hope I remember he is there if I get a chance to sit down and relax...

Just another day at the Funny Farm....