Braving the Road...

I once read in another mama's post on Instagram, that vacations/ traveling with kids are not really vacations, just a changes of location.  Well, I understand and I conquer.  After taking our first official road trip to Minnesota this past weekend, I learned a lot of things!  So let's dive in.

T h e   C a r   R i d e s...
So on the way there, I thought we had perfect angel babies because the drive up there was not terrible!  We had one stop for a dirty diaper, one stop to feed, and one stop to calm Emmy down when I found she was cutting her first tooth on the car ride there!  (Great timing huh?)  So overall, not bad! I did have to sit in between the car seats in the back because we travelled with my sister.  I was actually glad I did because it was easier to see the babies and help distract them from the road. Bennett was a champion and pretty much slept on and off, played a little and also managed to watch part of Winnie the Pooh on my phone.  The ride up there took us about 7 hours when it was just Alex and I.  The ride up there took about 8.5 hours.  Kind of what I expected.

The ride home was a different story.  I got the sense that they knew the long ride was happening again and their patient wore short, quickly.  We had a stop at a McDonald's when both babies were having complete and utter meltdowns.  We went in to change diapers, get lunch and hang out before jumping in the car to try and haul home before another meltdown.  I never felt more unorganized and scattered in my life.  We were in between feedings so we didn't have anything to feed them and they were just restless from the car.  I felt like the wears would not stop.  They were just over the car, and I didn't blame them.
I felt more than ready to get back to KC finally and out of the car.  My advice for traveling with 6 month olds: have plenty of toys, bring blankets to shade the sun when napping, have emergency formula in the car, bring more wipes than you think you'll use (we almost ran out), and lastly, crying seems inevitable.  Eventually, they tire out and sleep.  And just remember--- you chose to make the trip!  So make the most of it.

T h e   V i s i t...
The reason we went up north was to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday!  Friday, when we got up there, we hung out at my aunt and uncle's house and the twins were introduced to part of the family.  It was crazy that some of them hadn't even met them yet, I was so happy that we got to make the trip!  Saturday was the party and it was such a great day!  We started the day off with breakfast with a view of the gorgeous river in Stillwater, MN.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  Sat on the patio and gazed at the glassy top river.  It was a dream.

This was ADORABLE I had to document.

Emmy was so happy to be making everyone smile.  She knows she's cute.  Alex and I are in trouble.

Cousin Arica

I don't even have to tell you what's playing on that computer...

The weather up there was gorgeous.  It was in the lower 80's and breezy- we even got a thunderstorm Sunday morning (my new favorite weather)

Watching Pooh with Great Grandma...

After our bellies were full, we headed back to the house we were staying at to let the twins nap.  We tried to stick with our routine as best we could.  And for the most part, we did.  It was just difficult not having all of our toys, swings, activity gyms, etc. to distract and busy the twins in between feedings.  Another challenge I ran into was where and how to get rid of all the diapers in an efficient way.  We stayed in a room in the basement so getting to the dumpster out in the garage was not always convenient.  I used plastic bags to collect the "wet" diapers in we changed in the basement and changed it out when we had a poopy one.  There's just nothing smooth about having that kind of garbage at a house you're staying at.
I was really impressed with the babies this weekend.  Emmy was in a bit of a Mommy's girl phase and not really liking being held by people she doesn't know.  Well this weekend was a different story.  She was GREAT and loved being around the family that she hadn't met yet.

A bit dysfunctional... Needless to say, we got a picture.

A regular family picture!  Except for that scowl Emmy Lou...

Have to give an extra shout out to my cousin Abby... My whole family helped us out SO much but this girl stayed at the house we were at too and I felt like helped us 24/7... We love you Abs!

We have a few more trips this summer but none as far as this one was.  So I'm not too worried.  I hope we didn't scar them from the car.

T w i n   U p d a t e...
They are sitting up (almost all alone) and holding their bottles by themselves!  I could cry of happiness!  Feedings are no longer a stressful event.  I can make the bottles, hand them over and even have a second to make a cup of coffee.  Sometimes they'll drop them on accident and need me to pop them back in but other than that, they are pretty self sufficient with the bottle feeds.
The babies still sleep great... Bed by 7 pm and up around 6 ish...  They even nap 3 times a day!  So it allows me to get things done around the house.  I've been following this blog by another KC mama and have found some awesome tips for keeping the home simple and clean  I've begun my new quest to simplify our life and to move towards all natural cleaning! (http://www.homesongblog.com/)  I'll give an update in a few blog posts.

I am so glad I revisited my twin boppy now that they are sitting up and feeding themselves.  It's so great for them to watch Winnie the Pooh in, drink bottles and just to play by each other... and it's pretty comfy too...

Look closely at her eye... She slept on her hand- with the imprint to prove it.  I laughed for awhile.

Tomorrow is one of our last "regular" Family Fridays in KC... More to come...

See you next week...
Lauren, E & B