We did manage a bit of a trip recently, because I’m still set on giving my children the experiences they deserve, no matter how exhausted I am. So we took our first trip to Vermont since F was born. The older two love running around outside and spending time with their grandparents, and look forward to the trip every summer. Baby F had an amazing time too, and I’m pretty sure was ready to become a country kid.
The most surprising part, was that everyone did pretty well on the car ride. The older two mostly entertained themselves, played with toys and ate snacks. We had also downloaded a lot of new kid’s music, which they seemed to enjoy. Next time I’m downloading 100% less Mickey Mouse, though - I can only listen to so much before I go completely insane. The baby even took a few naps, which is amazing since none of our children sleep well in the car. She’s definitely the MVP for going along with everything we threw at her - schedule changes, new locations, different nap schedule, whatever it was she adapted. Her only request is that she must be carried 90% of the time haha.
We did hit an unexpected hiccup when one of the three refused sleep for the first two days of the trip. Understandable, since it we were off our schedule and in a new place, but since we were able to get him to sleep in Florida and on vacation in NH, this one threw me a bit. So with no naps and barely any sleep at night, we were struggling with more tantrums and outbursts than usual. We got it back on track, but it was a bit stressful until then. (Who am I kidding, it was still stressful after that!)
The whole thing was a bit of a trip down memory lane, though. We introduced the kids to my old librarian, we stayed with my old geometry teacher, and also saw the family friend who helped me pick out my wedding dress. We even brought them to my old school (so they could play on the playground) but I hadn’t been back since I’d graduated, so it was surreal to be back there. We also had a playdate with the children of one of the friends I used to have playdates with when I was that age.
We complained about not having cell service or internet, watching TV with commercials, and ooh’d and aww’d at all the mountains, fields and everything in between. G declared Franconia Notch was Dino Land because it was so impressive looking. We ate non stop snacks and ate ice cream from Tim and Doug’s and even managed to keep pizza Friday’s going.
It was a great pause from our normal life - I just wish we hadn’t come back to a daycare emergency in the middle of a super busy month…
