Traveling success

By Published On: May 31st, 2016

Well, we survived our cross-country trek. It’s like a miracle! […]

Well, we survived our cross-country trek. It’s like a miracle! Not really, but saying so seemed appropriate.
Sometimes our kids really rise to a challenge and surprise us with their adaptability, flexibility, good behavior and general pleasant attitude toward life. Other times, the baby cries for the entirety of a five-hour flight from Raleigh to Las Vegas. But hey, you can’t win ’em all.
IMG_5025Our flights back east were relatively unremarkable. The flights were all on time, and one of two wasn’t completely full. The kids were well behaved; the older two (6 and 4-and-a-half) watched their movies on the iPads. The baby napped, ate and looked around quietly, and the 2-year-old didn’t puke. (If you followed me when I was pregnant with baby No. 4, perhaps you remember when we flew cross-country and she DID puke. We consider not puking an all out victory!) She did complain a bunch about having to sit strapped into her carseat, but then I did “this little piggy” on her toes (because of course she took her shoes off), and she was happy again.
We spent two nights in Greensboro, North Carolina, at my in-laws house before heading north to Washington, DC. Along the way, we stopped in Richmond, Virginia to walk around the University of Richmond campus, which is where both my husband and I went to undergrad. It was a beautiful day to walk around a gorgeous campus, and we had fun showing the kids the dorms and classrooms and regaling them with stories that they’re not old enough yet to think are boring.
IMG_5029We stayed with friends in DC. Yes, we actually have friends who welcomed a family of six (four of whom are under age 7) into their home to stay for three nights. And they didn’t even kick us out before the three nights were up! I feel like those are good friends. We (and by we, I mean a particular subset of our company but I won’t name names) did break their toilet seat but again, you can’t win ’em all.
While in DC, we went to the National Zoo where we were able to see the pandas, including the baby who was only recently brought out into the public viewing area. We went to the Air & Space Museum, which was packed but fun, as always. We watched one of the 3-D IMAX movies while we were there. The 2-year-old couldn’t watch it, though. Why? Because she needed cheese. Obviously. And I didn’t have any cheese to give her. We saw 11 thousand police cars, which pleased the 4-year-old greatly. We walked to the front gate of the White House where we saw bomb-sniffing dogs and members of the Secret Service, which is what the 4-year-old is telling everyone about. (When we got home, the 4-year-old told his teachers that he saw the President at the White House, but he’s a liar.)
My husband attended his sister’s graduation from the Georgetown medical school while the kids and I stayed far away. Because can you even imagine?
Then it was back to Greensboro for another two nights at my in-laws’ where we were able to hang out with one of my oldest and dearest friends who I hadn’t seen in seven years! She has a little girl who just turned 1, so it was fun to introduce all the kids and spend some time catching up.
IMG_4987We flew straight from Raleigh to Vegas and yes, the baby screamed all five hours. She wasn’t pleased. Neither was I. And I’m sure no one else was either. But I can assure you that it wasn’t as worse for any of them as it was for me. But we made it all the way home (with one flight after our stop in Vegas on which the baby happily slept the entire time), and with surprisingly few meltdowns.
We were gone a week. Our suitcases are currently spread far and wide throughout the house in varying states of unpacked-ness. But we’re going away again this weekend. (This time by car instead of plane.) I’m very seriously considering just closing up the suitcases and taking a chance that everything in there will get us through the weekend. Because unpacking and re-packing really just seems like more effort that I’m willing to expend.