Life in a mini-van.......

Day 1: We left at 7:45 am and by 9:00 we had to stop for breakfast. The kids were actually pretty self-entertained and probably just excited to be headed on a trip with promises of Grandma at the end. We averaged about 90 minutes in the car between stops to get out and stretch our legs and use the potty. Our destination for that evening was a hotel in Kearney Nebraska. This hotel was recommended by a few friends as a "must stay". We were only able to clock around 450 miles due to the location, but it was well worth it. The waterslides alone took away the memories of the long drive.

Day 2: Again we were out the door by 8 am. I'm actually pretty punctual when I'm alone and in charge. (I can now blame lateness on my adorable husband.) I was determined to make our next destination by dinnertime, so stops were going to be infrequent this day. Our destination was 8 hours away with no stops, so probably 10 with stops. Our longest day. I sure was feeling this trip by around 1:30. So were the kids. The novelty of traveling had far from worn off, and I allowed Jack to ditch his carseat in hopes of some sleep. Yea, right. At 3:00 Kennedy was trying to handle the crew by reading them stories. Sweet girl. At 4:00 Jack started screaming at the top of his lungs. He had pulled his arm out of the neck of his shirt and was stuck. I was trying to explain how to get out of this tricky situation, when Kennedy tried to take over. She stuck her arm through her neck hole to physically show Jack how to solve his problem, only she found herself in the same predicament as Jack. She started howling as loud as her brother and I just started to laugh. Partly at the

innocent stupidity of my daughter, and partly because if I didn't laugh I would probably cry. Jack solved his problem, as did Kennedy, but Jack found it more comfortable to just stay shirtless.

At the 500 mile mark I started throwing skittles into the backseat for entertainment and distraction. We needed to go this many miles to reach Green River. It was a long 100 miles.

Arrival into Green River Wyoming brought Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Curtis, and cousins Logan and Atlin. It also brought a lot of energy release.

The only downside was the previously distributed skittle toss brought about a sugar high that didn't end until around 11 pm.

Day 3: The kids were having so much fun with cousins we stuck around until 10:30. I was hoping since the kids were tired they'd sleep. Have I not learned anything yet? We made it to lunch at noon. I forgot that along with the West comes sweet blessed fry sauce at the Arctic Circle. Aaaaaahhhhhh, totally worth the drive.After lunch we had 300 more miles to go and I wasn't going to stop. I was determined not to. I was actually succesful this time. We pulled into Idaho Falls at 4:30 pm. The best part of this entire road trip? Grandma and Grandpa at the end.


****I would like to thank all the products that made this trip possible:

Mam pacifiers and their sweet addictive abilities.

DVD players that come with 2 screens.

Skittles.

Kellogs cereal straws, to pacify hunger.

Elmers "Go Paints".

And of course, my ipod tuned to Blink 182's "I miss you".