Adventures with Two: Road Trip

Somehow, the kids lined
themselves up for this shot.
Notice all the pink and white
polka dots!

The craziness in our house has started to subside. The girls have settled nicely into 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. They sleep, and are no longer sick all the time. The edges of rubbed off of the sibling relationship, for now, anyway. They're eating their veggies. And they both seem to know they need to hold my hand in parking lots. We can all paint together, and other fun things. And the newness of the move has worn off, so we all feel plenty settled.

When life gives me moments of relative peace, after a short (too short?) rest, I generally feel the need to disturb it. Sometimes this means taking on massive sewing projects, or freezing meals. But this time, it meant embarking a road trip with the girls to visit my good friend Sara.

I chose my destination well: not only is Sara a good friend, but I knew her house would be stocked and kid-friendly to the utmost, as she's Mommy to Ethan (4) and Lilly (nearly 2). If I could simply survive the 3-hour drive and convince the girls to sleep while they're there, I could forget anything at home and I'd be fine. 

Slowly unfolding ourselves from our
car-riding positions.

Most of what I packed, therefore, fit into the category of road entertainment. My passenger seat, when we set off, was therefore littered with books, CDs, toys, surprise toys, a DVD player for emergencies and the tastiest of snacks, all meant to keep the crying down from the backseat.

As such, the drive was as uneventful as I'd hoped and we were rewarded for our 3+ cramped hours with a large yard to play in, beautiful weather, and good friends. The kids immediately hit it off, and Sara and I began the process of catching up.

Once inside the house, both girls were enthralled with their new surroundings. Kalina couldn't have been happier to see an air mattress just for her, nor could she resist giving it a few test bounces (as did the other kids). Elise was not as happy to see the crib I told her she'd be sleeping in, but later did consent to give it a few test bounces of her own.

We played, we had dinner, we played some more. By this time, Kalina had grown tired of her "big brother's" tendencies to want to play with her stuffed animals, and had claimed the guest room as her own. We let her: it's tough to be a 3-year-old guest (although good-natured Ethan certainly meant no harm!). She made sure all of her animals--she'd narrowed her stash down to six kittens, Lamby, Sleep Penguin and little Farmyard Cow for the trip--were comfortable and that none of them were too nervous about her surroundings. Elise, meanwhile, dug into all the toys and carefully observed and imitated the bigger kids.

Bedtime, admittedly, made me nervous. As expected, Elise cried hysterically when placed in the crib. After some soothing on Kalina's and my part, however, she drifted off and was barely heard from until 7:00 the next morning.

Kalina, however, was another story. After falling asleep rather nicely in the guest room that we shared, she apparently got confused in the middle of the night and thought that 11:52 p.m. was close enough to morning to begin playing. She dragged her sleeping bag off of her air mattress, lined up her kittens, and began sweetly whispering to them. Twenty minutes later, she still was--and at this point, convinced she wouldn't go back to sleep on her own, I somewhat guiltily, and very gently, intervened (after all, she was playing so sweetly!).

Look, we're all playing together!

I don't know if she was simply surprised by the fact that I was in the same room as her (even though I'd told her multiple times) or if maybe she had actually been sleep-playing and I'd woken her up, but lots of tears and yawns ensued, poor thing. We snuggled her into her bed again, and she fell back asleep much sooner than I did.

I was awakened by a happy 3-year-old staring me in the face at 6:45--perfection! The morning brought a flurry of activity as Sara and I worked to get four kids dressed, washed, brushed, fed, etc. 

Then, much to my surprise and joy, I was able to leave a content Elise under the watchful eye of Sara while I showered. This might not come across as revolutionary to those of you who haven't dealt with the intense stranger/separation anxiety of my kids, but it was a really big deal to me. I'm trying to decide whether to attribute it to Elise growing out of her anxieties or a sixth sense about Sara. 

After a short preschool conference for Ethan, we headed to a riverfront park. The day was beautiful and the kids were excited. We did swings and slides and lots of climbing before taking a short walk along the river. It was cute to watch the kids enjoy being together, sometimes to their delight, and sometimes to their irritation--but it was all good.

Then we treated ourselves and the kids to McDonald's. As we were on a trip, I let Kalina order chocolate milk. Both received Happy Meals, as the toy was a My Little Pony with a comb. I can't imagine a better fit, and to only let Kalina have one would be cruel. However, please don't anyone tell Kalina that our home McDonald's has Happy Meals and chocolate milk, or I'll be relegated to saying, "No, not now," every time we drive by.

After lunch and a little grimy playtime, we made a beeline for home and naps. Both of mine settled fairly happily for 2-hour naps. Hooray!

The afternoon was gorgeous, but before we went out to play again, we let the kids paint and play-doh. Preschool style, I manned the Play-doh table while Sara supervised painting. We let the big ones paint first, then the little ones paint over what the big ones had painted (no one minded)

While all the children enjoyed making masterpieces, I was impressed by Elise's painting stamina. Although occasionally she'd wander off with the paintbrush, the task held her interest and she'd always return. She managed to keep most of the paint on the paper, and good-naturedly watched while Lilly "helped" her with her picture.

Elise in her paint shirt
examining Lilly's work.

When we went out to play with sidewalk chalk, Elise again impressed us with her coloring capabilities. This time, the palette was herself--she enjoyed sitting in the chalk bin. Who wouldn't? Most of the rest of the kids followed suit, and Sara will forever be dealing with this annoying new habit. Sorry!

By this time, Kalina was bemoaning the fact that we had to go home the next day. "I want to stay here forever!" she'd say, or, "I wish they lived next door to us!" Sara promised to come visit, and that helped.

We pulled some dinner together while Ethan goofed around at the table and Kalina laughed, and Lilly wandered around while Elise followed her for a few games of peekaboo and toddler chase (which is like a slow-motion version of tag, with no winner and no loser and only cuteness).

Ethan did a great job of showing Kalina
how to play, and making sure everyone
did everything right. A very helpful
4-year-old!

Afterward, we decided to try Candyland. Kalina had never played, but caught on quickly, only occasionally moving the wrong direction. However, our fun was short-lived--the younger siblings were neither content to pursue other activities nor capable of joining in without ruining everything, plus the older ones found it hard to concentrate. Sara and I may have been able to finish the game, but what's the point? We headed down to the playroom instead.

As Ethan and Lilly enjoyed their bath, Kalina wondered when we were going to finish the game. With one curious toddler being easier to manage than two, we were able to start over. A careful stacking of the deck sent the bigger girl forwards and backwards and, finally, rocketing to the Candy Castle in first place. Kalina won, can you believe it?!

After an uneventful evening, we were ready for more fun the next morning. But first, a trip to Kohl's--all our kids needed summer shoes and Sara had a coupon.

I do feel that there's a conspiracy regarding children's shoes, and especially my kids. If I don't purchase sandals in January and snowboots in July, they will run out of our sizes. What's more, while most girls' sandals are undeniably cute, their tread often resembles a linoleum floor. Would you want your still occasionally accident-prone little girl climbing playground equipment with shoes like that? Neither would I. Of the two styles that seemed reasonable for actual everyday play, we managed to find, after much digging, exactly one pair in Kalina's size. Elise has none, with no good prospects in sight. (She will be wearing size 6 this summer, in case anyone sees any Carter's summer sandals at Kohl's and wants to pick them up for me--I will pay you their weight in gold.)

It's hard to get a really good picture in a
dark, active gym. This one at least
has all four kids in it.

Then, for our final activity of the trip, we headed to a gymnastics gym for open play. Although both girls had wilted after our Kohl's excursion, they perked up mightily at the squishy mats, rings, trampolines, hula hoops and more. Both seemed to know exactly what to do. I hardly heard from Kalina for a full 20 minutes as she tested everything out. Elise, who refused to take off her socks, needed a little extra supervision. I sorely regretted bouncing on the trampoline with her for so long (when...will...the...floor...stop...bouncing...?), but she loved every moment, and who can argue with that smile? Eventually she learned to bounce on her own. After a solid 45 minutes of rambunctious play, I knew I could count on at least one nap on the way home.

And finally, it was time for our sad goodbyes. "But I'll miss them!" Kalina protested (as did I!). The parting was sweetened by the fact that Sara had packed copious amounts of their favorite veggie chips in lunches for us, and the girls covered their sorrows in crunchy snacks on the way home. Elise fell asleep before we'd made it out of town, and Kalina happily chattered about kittens, considerately whispering for the full hour that Elise slept.

I'd packed half a dozen new, or newish, little toys for the trip and had prided myself that I had only pulled out one for each girl on the way in. But the return trip was, well, a return trip. We were all tired and antsy, and rush hour traffic on our way into town didn't help. And so, within 20 minutes of home, three more toys for each were handed out in quick succession, with inquiries for more being called out toward the general direction of the front seat even as we pulled into the driveway. I considered unloading the car before unloading the kids, but thought it unfair: instead, I convinced a whiny (tired) Kalina to introduce her Happy Meal My Little Pony to all of the animals in her room, and the girl emerged 45 minutes later much happier and asking for a snack (I knew she would--Kalina's animal-filled room always cheers her up!). Elise was mostly content to wander the house and re-discover all her toys.

One of the best parts of the trip, besides catching up with Sara and adventuring with my kids, was  watching all the children interact. The two toddlers sat side by side brushing teeth with duplicate toothbrushes (Sara and I both shop at Target), and the older kids overcame their frustrations ("He keeps coming into my room!"/"She won't let me come into the room!") to giggle at each other and occasionally play together. I agree with Kalina: I wish they lived next door.