Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Trip to Maryland


I had high intentions of flying to Maryland but the ticket prices were crazy high and since we have to buy two, it was hard to justify.  Yes I would have welcomed 2 hours of chaos versus the 11 I endured haha.  The drive takes 8 hours with no children. It took me 11 on Friday - just the three of us.  

I must say though, both children were soooo good.  Molly Anne was an angel due to getting to watch DVDs in the car the whole way (I’m not above it y’all!).  Grady slept the entire time minus one little crying episode in a work zone in NC and I couldn’t get off the interstate for 20 miles.  I made a bottle and turned half around and stuck it in his mouth and that worked.  It was thrilling.  



The bottles are what take the longest.  When we stopped it was a minimum of 30 minutes and that’s if Grady just drank his milk.  I still had to do the bathroom for Molly Anne, me and change Grady.  Oh and get food and gas.  

So we made three big stops - one in Durham at a Hilton.  This was our longest one but it was easy too.  Hotels are the place to stop on road trips with children.  Clean and no one around usually.  The other just east of Emporia, VA at a shop that has children’s toys and really sweet ladies that entertain your three year old while you give your 8 week old a bottle.  And our last was on the eastern shore of VA and that time we just sat in the car while I gave Grady milk.  

We went through a terrible storm in the VA Beach area.  I just pushed through and tried to get ahead of it.  Driving across the bridge tunnel complex in the middle of this was thrilling ha.  

I packed a ton of snacks and drinks for Molly Anne and I.  I put everything in the front seat so I could reach it while driving and hand it back to Molly Anne. I also put her in a pull up or we would have stopped every 5 minutes.  She got a couple new toys at the shop where we stopped including a new Water Wow.  The binoculars she picked out entertained her much more than I though they would.  

Moral of the story - I won’t be doing this drive again until after bottles are not in our world.   Well, after I get back home I won’t be doing it anymore.  



We got home (my parent’s house) around 6:45pm on Friday night. Of course my parents had gone overboard on everything. Dinner was ready, balloons on the mailbox for Molly Anne, a happy birthday sign out front, lots of new arts and crafts and all of her birthday gifts from them to play with.  

Her new bike was a huge highlight!


Even a cake with Mingo the flamingo on it!  Her favorite! 




Saturday morning bike riding!  She loved it!





That afternoon some neighbors came over to see her and brought a cupcake with candles so we could sing to her again!




She’s loves playing with my dollhouse!


More to come! 

15 comments:

  1. You’re parents are adorable - and you are a rockstar!!!!!!!

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    1. Ahhh thank you. Some fine parenting moments, let me tell ya! ;)

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  2. You're a patient woman for taking that long trip with a toddler and a newborn! I find myself thinking all the time I can't wait till Elsie's not needing milk every 3 hours and I can have a normal life. She's only 5 weeks old! And yes your parents are the cutest things ever! You're so lucky to have them!

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    1. I had to have low expectations for sure! Yes my parents are the best! :)

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  3. I am impressed road tripping with two littles all by yourself! I am making an eight hour drive this weekend to Alabama with only one baby and my mom and I"m nervous about that.. So glad you made it safe!

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  4. I am so impressed! There is no way I would have been brave enough to do that! Ha!

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    1. Oh please mama! Y’all just went on a huge trip!

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  5. I can't believe you did that alone! Very impressed, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I love the pics of MA riding her bike on your parents street, I could have identified that it was Maryland just from the trees and such!

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    1. You got that right that you gotta just do it! And yes about that Maryland looking street!

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  6. She is absolutely adorable!! Happy birthday!

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  7. Wow! You are amazing for tackling that all by yourself. We thought about driving to Maine this year (about 12 hours), but the thought of being in the car that long seems so hard! Kudos to you for doing that by yourself and with a newborn and toddler!

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    1. Y’all can do it for sure! Just push through! And yes, i thought of y’all when I was driving through!

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  8. Also, you weren’t so far away from me, if you were in VA beach! The tunnels and bridges can be crazy with traffic, so glad you got through all that!

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