Our First Family Road Trip

This weekend was my grandma's 90th birthday (Happy Birthday, Grandma!!). Early Friday morning we packed into the car and trekked up to Minnesota near the Twin Cities to celebrate with my mom's entire family. It was a 7 hour drive and as Anna has historically hated the car seat, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

We got up around 4 on Thursday, had the car loaded and were on the road by 4:50 a.m. Anna stayed awake for a little while after we took off, but fell back asleep and didn't wake up until we were already halfway there. We stopped, had breakfast and let her run around for a little bit and got right back on the road. We made it to our destination by noon with only one more 15 minute break at a rest stop with a playground. I was thanking my lucky stars for the Elmo's World dvd I have on my computer (as well as a few others) as that was what kept her occupied a majority of the rest of the trip.

The weekend is a blur of fun times with family, chasing my uncles cats through the yard (Anna, not me) and lots and lots of food. All the cousins were there and it was so good to catch up. For many of them, it was the first time they met Anna.


Me with my brother and sister

Our stay at the hotel even went OK. Hubby was able to help lull Anna to sleep the first night and the other two nights we simply let her lay between us on the bed until she was out and then we moved her to the pack and play. Getting her out the front door of the hotel to head over to my grandma's house (whom Anna affectionately called "Bubby" all weekend - "Hi, Bubby! I love you, Bubby!" was shouted gleefully on the second day we were there). Unfortunately the entrance to the pool was right next to the front door. Anna would run as fast as she could up to the pool door and yell "SWIN SWIN! PLEASE SWIN!" We did take her in twice. She LOVES the water.



Me and my water baby!

We only had one little hiccup. On Saturday, the day of the official party, Anna was up ALL DAY - no naps for that little party animal! We finally got her down around 4:15, only to need to get her up at 5:45 to get ready for dinner. MISTAAAAKE! I should have gone with what Hubby suggested and let her sleep and have him bring her to the party late. She threw a tantrum like I have never seen before. Nothing we tried calmed her down. I was so frustrated and disappointed that she was obviously not going to be able to attend the party, and therefore, neither were we. Hubby took one for the team and told me to go have fun with my family, that he and Anna would hang out and go get something with ketchup for dinner.

The return trip home was equally uneventful. Anna slept for the first three hours, watched Dora the Explorer for the next 2.5 hours and sang songs/read books/ate snacks the rest of the way. For the last 45 minutes or so of the trip Anna would ask from her seat next to me in the back, "Mama? Where ARE you?"...keep in mind she was asking this while making eye contact with me. She changed from that to "Where ARE we?" about 15 minutes from home. I think the kid was ready to be done with the car.

We'll definitely be doing more road trips in the future. The kid travels well when she's got someone to entertain her. I'm not sure I'm ready to do a drive like that solo, just me and her, but definitely with another grownup we're set! Big change from how nervous I felt about Anna's first flight in September and how the travel itself actually went!


Me, Anna, "Bubby" and Grandma Hootie - 4 Generations