We survived the
27 hour drive up there and the
27 hour drive back with 5 kids, ages 3, 3, 2, and 4 months, and our 13 yr old. Guess which one was the first to cry??? Yep, it was Hannah, the 13 yr old! She realized as we were driving out of town that her beloved ipod all of a sudden had NONE of her previously downloaded songs or movies (that she used her own gift cards to buy)...which was what she was counting on to get her through the drive and drown out the sound of her crazy younger siblings....somehow while she was charging her ipod using my computer the night before, it synced with a different library on my computer and then she had nothing for the drive. Oh, the tears and drama...and the attitude. And we couldn't turn back since we were trying to get out of town in a hurry to get ahead of the big storm. Moral of the story---double check your sanity devices well before getting on the road!
The toddlers all actually did really great, we borrowed dual screen dvd players and they helped a ton! Lia did alright too, the drive back was harder on her than on the way out there, but overall the trip wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating and we didn't have to threaten to strap anyone to the roof. I packed lots of snacks and suckers for the kids and toys/trinkets that they've never played with before. We saved about $3500 by driving and were lucky not to have any van trouble or have to deal with bad roads. I don't think we'll do it again for a while (after Lia gets a little older, since by summer when we visit next, she'll be mobile and will really hate her car seat!) Thanks for all of the prayers!!!
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| Jackson turned 2 on December 13th! |
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| Lia and Great Grandma Artz |
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| I tried getting all of the kids to cooperate for a picture with Great Grandma, but the boys were being difficult. |
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| Lia had lots to say! |
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| Jack got some Thomas bath toys and fell asleep holding them, Aunt Linda liked holding Jack. |
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| Jack could play trains all day long. |
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| Ethan getting Brian with snowballs! |
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Ethan loved being outside
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| We went to Aunt Judy's house to swim, it was so much fun! |
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| Lia laughing with Grandpa Foreman, she thinks his white beard is funny! |
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| Brian did a great job on the snow castle, I can't believe I never used buckets to make cool stuff like that when I was younger. |
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| Auntie Katie and Lia, she only sucks her middle fingers! |
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| Grandpa, Jack, and all of the stuffed animals he slept with! |
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| Lia and I really liked the recliner |
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| Happy Lia |
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| Lia's 1st Christmas |
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| Great Grandma Artz holding Ethan and Amber |
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| Ethan loved his new shirt |
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| The awesome Snow Castle Brian built with the kids, Grandma Foreman got inside |
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| Amber and Me |
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| Auntie Jackie and Amber |
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| Me, Brian and the four little ones, I gave them suckers so they'd sit there for the picture, but no one wanted to look at the camera besides Jack. |
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| Ethan got some new dress up clothes and had to bring them to Grandma Artz's house! |
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| Auntie Katie, Auntie Jackie and Lia and Amber |
We've been back home for a week and we miss everyone already, I also miss eating my moms cooking and all her help with laundry!
