The girls and I spent last weekend up in Maine with my folks, and
had a lovely time. There were farm animals and apples, blue skies and
falling leaves, chyrsanthemums and homemade cookies. The whole
Fall-in-New England extravaganza.
Of course, first we
had to get there. Packing up for a weekend away with the girls is hard
enough when Alastair is around to help, but it's pretty much insane
trying to do it on my own. I was able to load the Pack-n-Plays, booster
seats, diapers, toys, etc. into the car while the girls were parked in
front of Sesame Street. Then I brought them upstairs to hang in the
nursery while I packed their suitcase and they "helped" by pulling
every single item of clothing out of their bureau while gleefully
exclaiming "out!" "out!" Then I distracted them with legos while I
packed up my own bag -- something I don't do well under pressure.
Seriously, as soon as I put an empty suitcase out on the bed, it's like
my IQ drops 50 points. There I'll be, twenty minutes later, standing
over a suitcase full of nothing but socks, holding a pair of hiking
boots in one hand and a cocktail dress in the other, muttering to
myself about bobby pins. Add two small children into the mix and, well,
it's a miracle I managed to pack anything at all.
To
top things off, I'd stayed up too late the night before watching the
doggone VP debate and drinking wine, but couldn't pound coffee and
water the way my body was begging me to do because I needed to avoid
the need to stop on the drive up to Maine. (A bathroom stop with two
toddlers and no double stroller: pretty much impossible.) Still,
somehow we all got out the door and onto the road and made it to Maine
without incident. (Hint to solo traveling parents: tie sippy cups /
pacifiers / etc. to the carseat or the back of the front seats with a
piece of twine, so when your toddler(s) drop them, you can retrieve
them without having to pull off the road. Probably a strangulation
hazard, so don't leave children in car unattended -- not like you would
anyway.)
(A plethora of pics after the jump!)
Read More...
