As I am sure you can tell from my previous post we just spent a week in Indiana with my family. Our trip was great we got to see my parents, grandparents, aunts, cousins, and old friends. This trip Indiana served as "home base" for several of my friends and family members who live in all different parts of the country. Our visit was great! I have so many great pictures and stories they will trickle out one at a time, so today I'm going to tell you about our "road trip!"
Sometimes I feel like I have total control of this 3 kid situation. Sometimes I am cool, calm, and I've got my act together. I feel like ,"These 3 have got nothing on me...I've got this!" And then there's the majority of the time when I feel like I am barely hanging onto control in one aspect or another as someone's throwing a fit, throwing someone else down, or throwing up. When I'm alone, in public, with all 3 of my kids I often feel like people are staring at me thinking, "Geez, look at this crazy girl with all these kids. What the heck is she thinking? She's got no business taking these loons in public!" I'm not sure why I feel like that. No one's ever said it and I never think that when I see a mom with 3 kids. I do VERY OFTEN get, "whoa! you've got your hands full!" To which my standard response is to smile and in my sweetest voice say, "Always!"
So now you've got the background, let's set the stage. A six 1/2 year old, a FOUR year old, a five month old in a carrier carseat, a daddy whose Italian short fuse definitely comes out on road trips (love you punkin!), a two year old husky, about 8 bags, a dvd player, videos, books, games, a plastic potty, and a crazy, unorganized, mommy attempting to keep all of these things in perfect order crammed into a Toyota Sienna (which still has dents and scratches down one side from the "bumping into the babysitter fiasco" because we can't seem to find 10 days to part with this vehicle to get it fixed! So we made it to our 10 hour destination fairly well. No blood, but some sweat and tears. The way home is when things got hairy. There was never a baby changing station in the bathrooms, the dog tried to jump out at every stop, the baby decided she hated her car seat, Cade and Cora wouldn't leave each other alone. They went from laughing hysterically to crying and back again every five minutes. They were SO LOUD and poor baby Clara couldn't have slept if she tried. Plus the DVD player decided to be selective about which movies it would play and which ones it wouldn't. (Rob and I decided a cheaper alternative to jail time would be a car ride with the Garola kids.) But THE BEST was this...
We stopped in Atlanta for the night to break the trip up. We stayed at a very nice hotel right down the street from Rob's parents. They allowed dogs for a small fee, had free breakfast, and a room on the first floor, so it was perfect. In the morning before starting the last leg of our trip, Rob took all the bags out to pack the car while I took the three C's to the main lobby to eat breakfast. We locked the dog in our room while we went to eat. So I fumbled my way through the line 3 times (for the 3 of us big enough to eat food) while Cade and Cora sat at the table and "babysat" Clara who was sitting in her Bumbo chair on the table. There was a young man next to us dressed business like who sat alone eating and watching the drama unfold. He chuckled at the kids, and gave me that "you've got your hands full" look as I tried to make everyone happy and stuff some rice cereal down Clara's throat. So Rob finally joins us and we're eating as a family relatively peacefully in a VERY crowded lobby full of food and tables. There must have been a family reunion or something because the man watching us was the only other one who didn't know everyone else. So then right through the middle of the people filled lobby at the speed of light LEIA (our dog) barrels through the middle of the whole scene and keeps right on toward the front doors of the hotel as if she's runing right into downtown Atlanta!!!! THE DOG OPENED THE HEAVY HOTEL ROOM DOOR THAT ONLY PULLS (not pushes) OPENED!!!! Who does that happen to?????
Rob saw her the same time I did and FLEW out of his seat and yelled, "LEIA" in his firmest voice and she froze in her tracks!!! good dog, Leia!!! She listened!!! I cannot believe she listened. He toted her to the car, we wrapped breakfast up, the man watching us couldn't even make eye contact amist his chuckles, and we didn't stop driving until we got home.
Sometimes I feel like I have total control of this 3 kid situation. Sometimes I am cool, calm, and I've got my act together. I feel like ,"These 3 have got nothing on me...I've got this!" And then there's the majority of the time when I feel like I am barely hanging onto control in one aspect or another as someone's throwing a fit, throwing someone else down, or throwing up. When I'm alone, in public, with all 3 of my kids I often feel like people are staring at me thinking, "Geez, look at this crazy girl with all these kids. What the heck is she thinking? She's got no business taking these loons in public!" I'm not sure why I feel like that. No one's ever said it and I never think that when I see a mom with 3 kids. I do VERY OFTEN get, "whoa! you've got your hands full!" To which my standard response is to smile and in my sweetest voice say, "Always!"
So now you've got the background, let's set the stage. A six 1/2 year old, a FOUR year old, a five month old in a carrier carseat, a daddy whose Italian short fuse definitely comes out on road trips (love you punkin!), a two year old husky, about 8 bags, a dvd player, videos, books, games, a plastic potty, and a crazy, unorganized, mommy attempting to keep all of these things in perfect order crammed into a Toyota Sienna (which still has dents and scratches down one side from the "bumping into the babysitter fiasco" because we can't seem to find 10 days to part with this vehicle to get it fixed! So we made it to our 10 hour destination fairly well. No blood, but some sweat and tears. The way home is when things got hairy. There was never a baby changing station in the bathrooms, the dog tried to jump out at every stop, the baby decided she hated her car seat, Cade and Cora wouldn't leave each other alone. They went from laughing hysterically to crying and back again every five minutes. They were SO LOUD and poor baby Clara couldn't have slept if she tried. Plus the DVD player decided to be selective about which movies it would play and which ones it wouldn't. (Rob and I decided a cheaper alternative to jail time would be a car ride with the Garola kids.) But THE BEST was this...
We stopped in Atlanta for the night to break the trip up. We stayed at a very nice hotel right down the street from Rob's parents. They allowed dogs for a small fee, had free breakfast, and a room on the first floor, so it was perfect. In the morning before starting the last leg of our trip, Rob took all the bags out to pack the car while I took the three C's to the main lobby to eat breakfast. We locked the dog in our room while we went to eat. So I fumbled my way through the line 3 times (for the 3 of us big enough to eat food) while Cade and Cora sat at the table and "babysat" Clara who was sitting in her Bumbo chair on the table. There was a young man next to us dressed business like who sat alone eating and watching the drama unfold. He chuckled at the kids, and gave me that "you've got your hands full" look as I tried to make everyone happy and stuff some rice cereal down Clara's throat. So Rob finally joins us and we're eating as a family relatively peacefully in a VERY crowded lobby full of food and tables. There must have been a family reunion or something because the man watching us was the only other one who didn't know everyone else. So then right through the middle of the people filled lobby at the speed of light LEIA (our dog) barrels through the middle of the whole scene and keeps right on toward the front doors of the hotel as if she's runing right into downtown Atlanta!!!! THE DOG OPENED THE HEAVY HOTEL ROOM DOOR THAT ONLY PULLS (not pushes) OPENED!!!! Who does that happen to?????
Rob saw her the same time I did and FLEW out of his seat and yelled, "LEIA" in his firmest voice and she froze in her tracks!!! good dog, Leia!!! She listened!!! I cannot believe she listened. He toted her to the car, we wrapped breakfast up, the man watching us couldn't even make eye contact amist his chuckles, and we didn't stop driving until we got home.
Next time we'll pay the $30 a night for a pet sitter!
5 comments:
That dog is amazing. That is hilarious! I can just see it now.
OMG!!! I love your stories!! Keep 'em comin' :)
and don't worry -- we all feel crazy at some points - lol
I can so relate to your crazy life!
That is beyond hysterical! I would love to hear the business guy's rendition of this story.
BWAHHAHAHAHAHA....I am laughing so hard right now...not at you but with you (and the other guy watching too)!! Something like this would only happen to you!
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