We were back on the road by 8:30 a.m. and we got home about 8:30 p.m. We had called ahead to pick up pizza hut pizza on the way home so we didn't have to find food. I did that, and when we got there they had no idea what we were talking about. So we ordered Casey's pizza and picked it up when we got home. We were not happy with Pizza Hut:(
Last night we stopped so late because there is NOTHING after Memphis, TN. We kept looking and looking for a place to stop and had to just keep driving until we could find a town big enough for a clean hotel - we found a Holiday Inn. As much as I refuse to get a smart phone, I was VERY thankful for our son in law using his to look ahead on our route and help us find a hotel to stay in lol!
The drive this day...We stopped to get McDonalds for breakfast to eat on the road and get moving. On the second day of driving down we had instituted a rule that we would only stop for bathroom breaks every 2 hours and EVERYONE was required to relieve themselves so that we could be sure to make it another 2 hours. We used this rule on the way back as well.
However...our 12 passenger van set up is that I set in the first bench seat with JJ and the snacks, electronics, everything else that people may want and I need to have access to in order to keep them QUIET and NOT FIGHTING. So, there is not much room around me. Beautiful and her husband have the second bench seat. Two people over 6 foot tall look quite uncomfortable for long drives in a bench seat. I am just saying... And in the back 4 person bench are the Middles with a space between Grace and Superman (who protects Faith from Grace by sitting in the middle of them. Poor guy).
About an hour after McDonald's Grace (someone said she had fallen asleep, not sure if that was true) sat up and yelled she had to throw up. She gave us about 10 seconds of warning. Yeah...
Thankfully we use ice cream buckets double bagged with Walmart bags for trash cans in our van so someone closer to her got her a bucket.
I then tried to navigate the moving of Superman and Faith through all of the junk that was piled all over the place to my seat while I tried to get to the back seat. Beautiful and my husband DO NOT handle vomit well, and since Beautiful had been sick 3 days before she was not happy. We made a bathroom stop before the 2 hours was up (we have to be flexible people!) and I pulled out her dirty clothes from the day before that were in the hotel bag (nothing else was accessible) and got her clothes changed. Thankfully, we also always keep lots of baby wipes in the vehicles!
Also thankfully, I had my EO's handy so I got Tummygize and Peppermint on her tummy frequently (and mine just.in.case) and had a Purification spray that I sprayed many times over the next 11 hours of travel:) She vomited a total of 8 times in the van (and a couple more times after I got her home, showered, and to bed).
I remained in the back to help her and she either vomited to slept the rest of the drive home.
Silver lining? It was blissfully QUIET in the van as the girls were not fighting, and I got to SPREAD OUT in the back rather than being stuck in a small space. So, it all turned out ok:)
Palm Trees and warm February weather? We will miss you!!!
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Post Vacation Contemplation
Our home is a stressful home. It is not a peaceful home. There is no way for me to even describe the conflict in our house or the issues we deal with. You wouldn't want to hear about it anyway.
Every day of travel we prayed for our safety and other various things. But I kept praying for unity for our family and that we would like each other more after the trip than before the trip.
You know what? I think we do. Despite 9 days of being is close proximity to one another 24/7, I was able to relax enough and actually enjoy my kids enough that I like them more than I did before. Does that make me a terrible mother to admit that? I love them all. But constant rebellion can be a weary experience. Does that mean that we did not have any conflict on the trip? Far from it. But we got to have more moments of joy than we usually do, and more moments of togetherness without distractions. Overall it went better than I expected it would go. How to keep that momentum going now that we are home is something I am contemplating...
Of course Beautiful and her husband were more than ready to not come over again for a month (except for the Superbowl of course) lol!
Maybe I am doing better at anticipating conflict and intervening earlier. Maybe (PLEASE) they are actually maturing. Maybe God just gave us a very needed break. Whatever it was about, I am glad that we went:)
Oh, and JJ has put himself to sleep 2 out of the 4 nights that we have been home, doubling the number of times he has done that while at home. So maybe the trip got that trend started too.
Please?
Pretty Please? ;)
Regardless of where he fell asleep, he has slept through the night 3 of the 4 nights we have been home. That means that I have gotten to have 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep 3 nights. I laugh when I think about how that is so much less sleep than I used to need but after over 6 years of getting so much less than that it feels like I got 12 hours of sleep those nights lol!
If you have read all 9 of my Disney World blog posts to this point - Wow! Thanks for reading:)
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