We're Here...

I have discovered several things in the past few days: 1) when traveling long distances with children, plan and take frequent breaks. Day 1 started off with us intending to drive until they wouldn't let us anymore. And after a 5.5 hour stretch they were D-O-N-E. And so we stopped, but meltdown ensued when we got back in the car and an hour later we were done driving for the day when Morgan cried so hard he vomited. Fun times. Day 2 included much more frequent breaks throughout and two much happier campers. In fact, they gave Mommy and Daddy a nice gift by both sleeping for the last two hours of the trip. Christmas in June!

Lesson #2: Pack so you can see out your rearview. Driving would have been much more an obstacle with more in the van. Yes, it was packed. Fortunately my parents are driving up to visit in a few weeks and will bring with them what we couldn't.
Lesson #3: Include kids in the packing. Tessa really was very helpful in the packing process and packed all her clothes, toys, books, etc. If only Morgan were three too...
Lesson #4: Find a playland. Of course, we tried really, really hard to do this and it was an epic fail. But this McDonalds somewhere in Wisconsin had video and touch screen games mounted on the wall. Not as good as a play land, but managed to entertain the troops for a brief while.

This is the second picture from Lesson #1: Morgan sleeping at the end of the trip.
Lesson #5: You can do pretty much anything with kids around if you are quick and distract them. Somehow, I managed to put the new patio set together in spurts throughout the day yesterday, offering them one distraction after another.



Ta-da!

Minnesota is very beautiful, I will admit that. It's not home, but it is pretty. There's a gorgeous marshland pond and city park about 7 houses down the street, so we've been going there everyday. It looks kind of like an Ohio park, but in addition to the basketball courts and baseball fields, there is also an outdoor hockey rink. And the wetlands/lakes...they really are beautiful. There is an extensive trailway/walking/biking path attached to the park and when the new double stroller arrives, I am looking forward to hitting it up!