6:15am - Give in to the pounding on my belly, mostly because he has also now woken up Jane who was sleeping / cuddling / nursing beside me. (Rick had already left for work.)
6:30 - 7:30 - Make beds, get kids dressed, start to clean up disaster in basement, that I didn't have the energy for last night (and am now regretting.)
7:30 - 8:30 - Leave Bek with kids to eat breakfast and go to gym to do my knee exercises (which I promised to do faithfully everyday to avoid physical therapy.)
8:30 - 9:15 - Go home, 2 other girls there now too. Shower and get ready to take kids to EFY (Especially for Youth) in Massachusetts.
9:15 - Call the girl I was supposed to pick up at 8:30, and tell her we're running late. Get little kids and snacks into car, get big girls in and realize there is NO WAY all their luggage can fit.
9:30 - Go to hardware store to buy rope to tie 2 biggest suitcases onto roof rack.
9:45 - Head to Carol's house to pick her up. Say a group prayer that we will travel safely there AND back.
10am - Finally on the road, a full hour later than we'd planned.
10:20 - "Maintenance Required" light came on on dashboard. Pulled over, called Rick and had him call Honda. Checked oil (OK) - Honda said probably just because I flipped 30,000 miles and it's reminding me about regular service. Prayed that they are right.
11:45 - Stopped for fries and shakes at Burger King. My kids won't eat anything else there, except a salad - which is just not practical enough for the car. I figured we'd get real lunch after we got there.
12:10 - The rope tying the suitcases to the roof rack broke - the biggest & heaviest suitcase went flying into the middle of a 5 lane highway. Pulled over, got Rebekah to help me (I'm doing well from my surgery, but I'm still not fast & I limp) ran into the road when there was a break in the traffic we grabbed it. The rope said it was good to 100lbs, but in retrospect the suitcase was almost as big as her, and she couldn't pull it, even though it was on wheels. It was probably well over 100lbs.
12:15 - Cram the suitcases in the leg space between the seats, have everyone sit cross-legged to make them fit. Assure them we're almost there and they won't have to sit that way very long.
1:15 - 2:15 - Arrive at the University of Massachusetts. Get 4 girls registered, stuff lugged upstairs and into dorm rooms, councillors found -- trek back to car with the 3 little's.
2:30 - Stop at Fabric store I had previously looked up online. There was also a Whole Foods and Target there. So I got the kids something else to eat, and let them run around and play with the toys in Target and stretch their legs a little.
3:45 - Start driving home.
5Pm - Sit in rush hour traffic during a major thunderstorm, creep along highway and past overturned giant truck (blocking 2 lanes) and wish we hadn't stopped at Target so we were ahead of this mess.
6:30pm - Realize I probably missed the turn off for the Merritt Pkwy in the storm and the kids are starving. Pull into the Yale Hospital complex and have dinner at Subway.
7:20 - Back on the freeway, realize I was going to buy gas while we stopped for dinner.
8pm - Gas light came on - stop in Darien to fill up. Emily laughed for about 10 minutes saying "I smell gas." She thought she was pretty hilarious. I was too tired to care.
8:45pm - Arrive home. Thanks goodness Rick was home from work, and helped get the kids bathed and into bed, since they were totally melting down!
So now I'm resting, and icing my knee and feeling thankful that the flying suitcase didn't hit a car behind me, or cause an accident - and also thankful that I don't have to go get them on Saturday. I think next year we'll leave early in the morning, and I'll stay in a motel for the day / night and let the kids swim and break up the trip a little OR I'll volunteer for pick-up and Rick can go get them without the little guys on the Saturday.
So, here's my question for all of you. We travel a fair amount, and more often than not with all the kids (even when it's without Rick, it's with all the kids.) The hardest part for me is the food while en-route. My kids don't like fast food (well, Rebekah does, but not really the others) and they don't like sandwiches - unless they're made fresh. Emily doesn't eat fruit, and Jacob and Jane eat it only if it's cut up into pieces. Warm, smushed, been-in-the-car-all-day fruit is disgusting anyway - so WHAT DO I FEED THEM? Most often I end up going into a grocery store and buying yogurt and plastic spoons (or I often carry spoons with us for just this reason.)
Of course, there's bunny grahams, raw carrots, peanuts (don't tell the pediatrician I'm feeding Jane raw carrots and peanuts), veggie sticks, pirate's booty, etc - but they're all snacks - not really a meal, and mostly carbs.
I need new ideas - what healthy, easily transportable food do you / your kids like?
