Greetings from the Griswolds
We're heading in the opposite direction and our kids are in a totally different phase of annoying development, but otherwise our trip is shaping up to be much like the Griswold's classic Vacation. Last night, as Owen screamed in my arms after bouncing headfirst off of the hotel bed onto the not-so-soft floor, I was so very, very close to packing it all in and just driving home. We're only in Spokane, so it would be reasonable to just turn around. We're not past the point of no return yet.
Last summer, the first summer we were crazy enough to try the cross-country road trip, the biggest annoyance was baby Owen crying for what seemed like hours at a time from the back seat. This year, we have an entirely different annoyance - Sydney's constant barrage of "Are we there yet? Are we at the hotel? How much farther do we have to go? I'm tired of sitting in this seat. Can I have a drink? I'm thirsty! I'm hungry! Are we at grandma's house yet? How much more driving do we have to do?..." And on. And on.
What was I thinking?
The thing that makes it all worthwhile is the gorgeous scenery of the western US. It's so easy to forget how vast and beautiful this country is when all you do is fly from city to city. This country seems so crowded until you drive through the west and realize how much empty space there is out here. Today we're heading off to Helena, and I'm really looking forward to the short trip across the northern panhandle of Idaho. It is so pretty. Assuming the family wakes up in time to make the trip before dark! They don't seem to be in any hurry.
Sydney and Owen are all snuggled up together. They both insisted on sleeping with Bill (which was very cute, and gave me the chance to wallow in the spaciousness of my own bed), and right now Owen has both of his legs over Sydney and she has an arm across his chest. They're so sweet when they're sleeping - you can forgive them pretty much anything! I'm going to go stare at them for awhile. It might be my last chance today to see them actually getting along...
Last summer, the first summer we were crazy enough to try the cross-country road trip, the biggest annoyance was baby Owen crying for what seemed like hours at a time from the back seat. This year, we have an entirely different annoyance - Sydney's constant barrage of "Are we there yet? Are we at the hotel? How much farther do we have to go? I'm tired of sitting in this seat. Can I have a drink? I'm thirsty! I'm hungry! Are we at grandma's house yet? How much more driving do we have to do?..." And on. And on.
What was I thinking?
The thing that makes it all worthwhile is the gorgeous scenery of the western US. It's so easy to forget how vast and beautiful this country is when all you do is fly from city to city. This country seems so crowded until you drive through the west and realize how much empty space there is out here. Today we're heading off to Helena, and I'm really looking forward to the short trip across the northern panhandle of Idaho. It is so pretty. Assuming the family wakes up in time to make the trip before dark! They don't seem to be in any hurry.
Sydney and Owen are all snuggled up together. They both insisted on sleeping with Bill (which was very cute, and gave me the chance to wallow in the spaciousness of my own bed), and right now Owen has both of his legs over Sydney and she has an arm across his chest. They're so sweet when they're sleeping - you can forgive them pretty much anything! I'm going to go stare at them for awhile. It might be my last chance today to see them actually getting along...
posted by knittinmom at 8:46 AM
5 Comments:
We have a joke that we need a piece of glass like they have in limos between the front and back seats so we don't have to listen to "are we there yet?"
We like the idea of individual plexiglas "child pods" that enclose each child in his or her own sound-proof, touch-proof, whine-proof, barf-proof isolation seat. Sadly, they have not yet been invented.
I remember driving to Montana from California with our two boys when Justin was 10 and Kenney was three. I thought that trip strongly resembled Dante's Inferno. I applaud your shere courage on embarking on your journey across the Western US with your children. I hope it goes more smoothly for the rest of the vacation.
I hope you enjoy your trip...luckily for me when the kids were small they didn't mind riding .. the only problem was they all wanted the window seat...so they had to take turns and sit in the middle....oh sweet memories..
The best whine from the backseat when my kids were small was from my older daughter who exclaimed and her younger sister was "thinking about touching me." Not that she was actually touching her but she was thinking about it.
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