For Easter this year I drove with all 5 kids (Autumn 5, Lauren and Lexi 4, Quentin 2, and Isaac 6 weeks) to LaVerkin to visit my Mom and Sister. The driving part of the trip went off without a hitch which was a very pleasant surprise. The trip, however, included two stops (one going up and one going back) that give support to the fact that I was insane to think of driving that far alone with all the kids.
On the way to Utah I scheduled the trip so that we could have several long breaks at parks and such to break up the drive and allow the baby to have awake time so I wouldn't be up all night with him when we got there. Our first stop - 2.5 hours in the drive was at a playground in Parker. The kids love this playground which is near the elementary school where Quentin Sr. went as a child and we stop there frequently on our trips.
I take nearly full responsibility for the mishaps that occurred on this stop because I didn't have the kids immediately get out and go to the bathroom. Consequently both Autumn and Lauren peed their pants while we were there. I rushed them over to the bathrooms (which were open- thank heavens - though often they are not). There was only one toilet and no sink counter so I had Autumn and Lauren take of their pants so I could rinse them out while Lexi went potty and Quentin made havoc of what little space we had. When Autumn was done and she washed her hands I had her hold Isaac so I could rinse the pants. Because Isaac is so big I had to relieve her in between washing her and Laurens pants. I didn't want to have her sit her naked bottom on the cement floor of the bathroom (obviously) and I would have to leave at least two naked kids in the bathroom in order to run to the van on the other side of the park to get the stroller (not an option). So there is Lexi singing on the toilet, Quentin trying to pull off all the toilet paper, Lauren running around laughing about being naked and Autumn screaming that she was about to drop Isaac as I washed pee out of their pants. Thinking back and writing about it now it really doesn't seem all that traumatic - but at the time I was at my wits end.
The other "incident" on the way home occur ed at the McDonald's inside Terrible's gas station in Searchlight. We had stopped for food and I wisely took all the kids bathroom first. The girls are getting pretty good at taking care of business and washing their hands by themselves (thankfully) so I took the boys into the handy cap stall and changed diapers. I do feel bad for the poor lady next to that stall who got a happy little "hello" from Quentin with his head under the stall wall while I was changing Isaac - but that is beside the point.
After using the restrooms I ordered our chicken nuggets and we sat down to eat. Isaac started fussing and I decided it would be the perfect time to discreetly feed him in our corner booth while the kids ate. But of course as soon as he started to eat Autumn announced that she needed to go to the bathroom again (number 2 just couldn't wait). I wasn't sure what to do since all going in together would mean stopping Isaac's meal and packing up all of the lunch which had not yet been eaten and then coming right back to finish eating. I ultimately decided that Lauren should go with Autumn and I would stay in McDonald's with Lexi and Quentin as they ate. There is just a glass wall separating the McDonald's from the bathroom hallway - but is was still stressful to send two little girls off on their own in a "truck stop" bathroom. A few minutes into their departure I sent Lexi in to tell them to hurry up because they were taking too long and I was getting nervous. While Lexi was gone Quentin decided he wanted to jump up and follow them too - at the exact same moment Isaac decided to take his own bathroom break which was so violent it went out both the top and the bottom of this diaper running down the leg of his pants and getting on my pants and up his back getting my shirt. I won't bore you with the clean up frustrations that followed but at that moment...I WAS DONE!! Thankfully the girls came back before Quentin could get out the door and we all survived...barely.
The stay in LaVerkin, however, was great including 3 different Easter Egg hunts for the kids.
On the way to Utah I scheduled the trip so that we could have several long breaks at parks and such to break up the drive and allow the baby to have awake time so I wouldn't be up all night with him when we got there. Our first stop - 2.5 hours in the drive was at a playground in Parker. The kids love this playground which is near the elementary school where Quentin Sr. went as a child and we stop there frequently on our trips.
I take nearly full responsibility for the mishaps that occurred on this stop because I didn't have the kids immediately get out and go to the bathroom. Consequently both Autumn and Lauren peed their pants while we were there. I rushed them over to the bathrooms (which were open- thank heavens - though often they are not). There was only one toilet and no sink counter so I had Autumn and Lauren take of their pants so I could rinse them out while Lexi went potty and Quentin made havoc of what little space we had. When Autumn was done and she washed her hands I had her hold Isaac so I could rinse the pants. Because Isaac is so big I had to relieve her in between washing her and Laurens pants. I didn't want to have her sit her naked bottom on the cement floor of the bathroom (obviously) and I would have to leave at least two naked kids in the bathroom in order to run to the van on the other side of the park to get the stroller (not an option). So there is Lexi singing on the toilet, Quentin trying to pull off all the toilet paper, Lauren running around laughing about being naked and Autumn screaming that she was about to drop Isaac as I washed pee out of their pants. Thinking back and writing about it now it really doesn't seem all that traumatic - but at the time I was at my wits end.
The other "incident" on the way home occur ed at the McDonald's inside Terrible's gas station in Searchlight. We had stopped for food and I wisely took all the kids bathroom first. The girls are getting pretty good at taking care of business and washing their hands by themselves (thankfully) so I took the boys into the handy cap stall and changed diapers. I do feel bad for the poor lady next to that stall who got a happy little "hello" from Quentin with his head under the stall wall while I was changing Isaac - but that is beside the point.
After using the restrooms I ordered our chicken nuggets and we sat down to eat. Isaac started fussing and I decided it would be the perfect time to discreetly feed him in our corner booth while the kids ate. But of course as soon as he started to eat Autumn announced that she needed to go to the bathroom again (number 2 just couldn't wait). I wasn't sure what to do since all going in together would mean stopping Isaac's meal and packing up all of the lunch which had not yet been eaten and then coming right back to finish eating. I ultimately decided that Lauren should go with Autumn and I would stay in McDonald's with Lexi and Quentin as they ate. There is just a glass wall separating the McDonald's from the bathroom hallway - but is was still stressful to send two little girls off on their own in a "truck stop" bathroom. A few minutes into their departure I sent Lexi in to tell them to hurry up because they were taking too long and I was getting nervous. While Lexi was gone Quentin decided he wanted to jump up and follow them too - at the exact same moment Isaac decided to take his own bathroom break which was so violent it went out both the top and the bottom of this diaper running down the leg of his pants and getting on my pants and up his back getting my shirt. I won't bore you with the clean up frustrations that followed but at that moment...I WAS DONE!! Thankfully the girls came back before Quentin could get out the door and we all survived...barely.
The stay in LaVerkin, however, was great including 3 different Easter Egg hunts for the kids.
The kids sure do love visiting Grandma Beaumont's "farm" and playing with the dogs,cats, goats and bunnies and riding the horse and buggy. It was worth the trip to have my mom finally meet Isaac - before he got any bigger.
We also got to enjoy a beautiful drive through the desert following one of the very wettest winters that AZ has had in a long time. The flowers along the road were amazing and at every stop the girls would pick me several flowers to "take home". Autumn took a picture of the flower collection we got at one of the stops - so many different beautiful flowers in one spot.
sounds like you had quite the adventurous trip Nancy! one you'll never forget... I am sure!
ReplyDeleteYou'll be so glad you wrote all of that down. I sure am. You always seem like nothing gets to you even when things are crazy. So I am glad to hear that even you are human and get stressed sometimes. And you know, it could have been worse...it could have been me it happened to ;)
ReplyDeleteWow I don't know how you handle that many kids doing anything little own a road trip. Good job at making it to each location with all 5 kids!
ReplyDelete