Time management

At 8am I decided the kids and I were going to spend the morning at the beach. So I cracked open a Pepsi and started getting us ready to go. At 8:34am I texted my husband informing him of our beach plans because my commitment to said plan was dwindling. Once he knew I felt like I had to take the kids to the beach! At 9:42am, a mere 102 minutes later, the kids and I are swim suit clad, lathered in SPF 50 and all our gear was packed and ready to go. I included lunch because clearly we wouldn't be home before lunchtime! Confession: only 2 of the 3 kids had sunscreen on. Which one did I skip? I'll never tell:)

It was at this point I snapped this framer:

Yes, yes. Lunchables are becoming my go-to beach lunch. Obviously I slaved away in the kitchen getting us ready to go. So how it took me 102 minutes to get us out the door is still a mystery to me.

10:14am we arrive at the beach after our 1 block + giant hill trek. Pictured below, of course. 

I immediately plopped myself down on the towel and rewarded myself with a bag of cherries. 60 seconds later the sand monster attacked and my illusion of a mini vacation vanished.  Oh who am I kidding? One child was tantruming, another was eating rocks and sand, and the third was playing nicely. This was no vacation. 

But the sun was shining. The waves were making their beautiful lapping sounds. Our tummies were full of good {slightly sandy} food. And eventually we found our beach groove and we all had a good time!

Holes were dug. Dinosaur bones were discovered;) And one little girl even snuck in a morning nap. 

12:20pm we called it quits. Packed it all up and did it all over again in reverse. And right now while my girls are napping and the house is quiet, I am thinking it is time to break my one-soda-per-day rule and crack open another Pepsi. 

Two small tangents. 

1) As a child I remember once seeing my mom lounging on the beach eating cherries. I thought she was THE MOST glamorous woman ever at that moment. Like a movie star. 

2) That bottom picture is PROOF that having 3 children is hardly different/more difficult than 2.  That sleeping mound in the background is a classic just tagging along for all the fun baby #3.

Target...yet again.

This is the last time. Promise. I mean how long can I beat a dead horse? We all get it. While Target seems like dream come true to us {sometimes} stir crazy stay-at-homers, it isn't. Expectations and reality just don't match.

And now for my final Target rant:

Joe occasionally takes the kids with him in the evenings to run errands, namely Target. They get time together OUTSIDE of our tight quarters and I get peace and quiet. We all benefit!  Plus we get the needed items purchased WITHOUT the extra impulse buys I can't seem to resist...

However the part that bothers me is that every time he goes out in public with our kids alone, he gets unsolicited praise and admiration! Women stop him and tell him what a great job he is doing and can not believe he is brave enough to take 3 kids to the store alone! Brave? Really?

Because when I am out with the kids I get unsolicited parenting advice and not so subtle reprimands. Never once has anyone told me I am brave for taking my kids to the store with me! This double standard in parenting kills me. 

Yes, I do think he is a wonderful, capable dad. And I am so grateful to have him as my co-parent in this whole kid raising gig.  But praising him excessively for doing a normal every day task with his children?! That is just absurd. I mean he is their dad  for goodness' sake! 

Plus I would bet money that while the kids are out in public with him they are running around like wild monkeys. Not because he can't control them. Rather because he is the fun parent and allows the kids to be...well kids. I tend to stifle the fun. And yet he is winning the 'Parent of the Year' award. Clearly I am doing something wrong...

From now on I am going to Target alone in the evenings and leaving the kids at home with their better parent:) That must be a fool proof plan, right?

Good

My husband texted me this morning asking how everything was going at home. 

I promptly responded "Good!".

Then I left my secret mommy hiding place and discovered this...

Ok. My answer should have been "Good-ish:)".

Trying really hard to be the optimist that I am NOT I found the silver linings. #1. I hadn't dressed her for the day so I didn't have extra dirty laundry! And #2. She was ready for her long overdue {oatmeal} bath. 

Thank you Charlotte for always keeping life interesting. Yes her big sister did this to her. 

Update: 

Tonight this girl thought she struck gold or at least the baby equivalent. Brown sugar!

 

I was standing less than 2 feet away from her preparing dinner completely oblivious to the fact that she was eating it by the handfuls! Yes I knew she was playing in the pantry. I just didn't realize she had found herself a tasty snack. I was too happy with the peace and quiet to really notice what she was doing. Oops. 

So much for waiting for her first birthday for sugar. Oh who am I kidding? This baby has been enjoying ice cream and the occasional cookie for months! There are perks to being the third child. And one of those is sugar for dinner apparently. 

Travel Carnage

Let me start by saying that taking a roadtrip with young kids without another adult is NOT for the faint of heart. That being said, I am not Super Woman (or Super Mom for that matter). I am just a regular mom that wants to spend time with extended family and if I waited around for my husband to be able to join us I would be waiting a looooong time. Five or so years to be exact-ish:)

So here it is my big traveling secret: it ain't pretty. Big shocker, right? But we make it through and it is always worth the miles and miles of vehicular confinement in the end. 

I have learned to start out the trip expecting the worst. Think tantrums, screaming children and crying baby for hours on end. Then when those do occur and only last a few minutes I am pleasantly surprised. Although admittedly those minutes can feel like hours. Plus I always mentally add on a couple extra hours of drive time so it is a bonus when we make it somewhat 'on time'. 

So what exactly do I do for 8 hours of driving alone with the kids? Let me be completely honest here, it is a whole lot of screen time and snacks. The movies are available at their finger tips. They just have to take turns choosing the movie. Side note: I thought I was all fancy with my 2 screen DVD player. Then about 60 seconds into our trip I heard "He's looking at my TV! Don't look at my TV." Are you kidding me?!? So now we travel with ONE screen for the whole world to look at if they want! The snacks are individually packaged and at my fingertips:) Side note: on my last trip I packed just the right amount of snacks for the two big kids. Umm yeah, that was a failure. Let me explain. The big kids are in the back of the van. Meaning I am chucking these snacks back at them. I am NOT an athlete. My success rate is probably between 25 and 50% (that might be an over estimate:). I have seen (in my rear view mirror) more crackers bounce off my daughter's head then I care to admit. So now I travel with a mountain of snacks and each time we stop I collect all the wayward ones. 

The kids also have a few toys next to them as well as coloring supplies. I do put a LARGE stash of books between them. And when they get bored of movies, which they do, they read and color. For the baby I have a bag FULL of toys next to me and I periodically hand her a new one. Ideally before she cries. Her "snacks" consisted of crackers, string cheese and pouched baby food. So you can only imagine the mess that was her carseat. 

Back in my one child days I would have never allowed endless screen time while traveling. But then again during those days I was only traveling 150 miles to visit family AND I had my husband with me. Like I said before, it ain't pretty but we make it work. So there you have it the full truth about traveling solo with kids. 

My husband was gracious enough to unload the van upon our arrival home. He asked me, "What happened in there? It is carnage."  To which I promptly responded, "The kids and I practically lived in there for the past month and travelled 1900 miles. A better question is what didn't happen in there?"

Where in the world?

So where in the world were we for the past month?
The short answer...here and there.

But do I ever give the short answer?  Never. 
So here it is. The roadtrip extravaganza re-cap. 
Buckle up it was quite the ride!

Day 1: Traveling.  Lots and lots of driving. No pictures of that "excitement". You are welcome.

Day 2: Grandma & Grandpa's house (ie my parents).  I chopped my hair and my parents took me down memory lane at one of my favorite childhood restaurants. The burgers and shakes were just as good as I remembered!

 

Days 3-6: My mom and I volunteered as the camp nurses while Isaiah was a first time camper at Camp Lebanon.  Mostly we just played and had a great time. And I tried my hardest not to be too much of a mamarazzi. Isaiah celebrated his 6th birthday at camp and got to SKIP AROUND THE ROOM.

 

I almost forgot. The last day of camp was also the day the kids and I went to the Music Park dedication (grand opening ceremony?!) as my in-laws sponsored an instrument.

 

 

 

Day 7: Playdate with a high school friend and her kids. No pictoral evidence. Oops. We just had too much fun catching up - no time for pictures. Plus we had 6 kids between the 2 of us to keep track of! This is also the day we found Turtlick. For Joe this was test day. I tried my hardest not to worry all day. That is asking a lot of me.

Day 8: Breakfast with another high school friend. It was fabulous and also undocumented.  My in-laws threw the kids a family birthday party that evening. Clearly Hannah loved her first boat ride. Daddy joined via FaceTime:) I decided we should honor my birthday too...

Day 9 - 10: The kids and I drove to visit our old Wisconsin friends. Joe met us there!!! Lots of relaxation and good food. These people really know how to host a family! The girls and I celebrated my birthday the first night. 

 

 

 

Days 11 - 14: Camping just our family of 5! It was perfect. Quiet campground next to a library and playground and within walking distance of tourist-y Lanesboro. We relaxed and enjoyed time together. We had ice cream every day! Perfect. We explored Niagara Cave too. Oh and family vacation just wouldn't be complete without somone holding a soda to their forehead, now would it?!

 

 

Day 15: Due to severe thunderstorms and flash flooding we packed up camp and sought shelter (and FUN) at America's Best Inn. And fun we had! It was during this leg of the trip that we discovered our kids can be really good eaters....when parked in front of the TV!

 

Day 16: A quick visit with one of our favorite families from my PA school days. We just had to stop by since we were "in the area". Relatively speaking that is.

 

How cute are these baby girls?!?

I just can't believe I didn't get a picture of their moms together:)

 

Days 17: I was sick. So pretty much the only thing I accomplished was driving the kids and I back to my parents' house so they could keep them alive and well.  Joe went home:(

 

Days 18 - 19:  Went 'Up North' to spend time with relatives. We celebrated my cousin's 30th birthday. Lots of food and game playing.

 

 

Days 20 - 21: Wedding prep was in FULL FORCE! We did manage to sneak in a little play time and ice cream with raspberries:) And we raced a some turtles.

 

 

 

 

Day 22: Lots of fun. No pictures. I may have had my crabby pants on. Yikes! Sorry.  Back to the fun. Bachelorette brunch and pedicures. Groom's dinner, which was much more than a dinner. It was an afternoon at the lake. And last but not least the rehearsal and dessert. Oh yes, this is also the day I nearly sliced off my toe. Shutting the barn door in the dark in flip flops is NOT a good idea. Lesson definitely learned. 

Oh look I found a picture on my phone!

And another...

Day 23: THE DAY...the weddding day! It really was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect (mid seventies and sunny...the scattered storms stayed away). And the bride was even MORE BEAUTIFUL.  The ceremony was incredibly personal and moving. I cried. A LOT. And our  grandparents' yard was the perfect setting.

 

Days 24 - 26:  After the longest drive from MN to WI in the history of drives (while caravaning with my sister and her kids and taking too many unexpected detours and wrong turns) we arrived at our annual Cousin Reunion. I was quite reluctant to believe that this last leg of the trip was going to be worth it. But it was:) I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

 

  

  

  So after all that I guess there really is a short answer. We went to Minnesota then Wisconsin then back to Minnesota then Wisconsin again. And finally home. And home is where we plan on staying for a while.