A common size for a solitary confinement cell is 8' x 10'. It is used for punishment or torture. Not intended to be fun. The seating space in our Yukon is 8' x 6'. In less space than is used for punishment for one person we stuffed 8 people for 48+ hours . . . and we had a GREAT time!!!
I was mentally prepared for 24 hours of argueing, whining, complaining, and major boredom leading up to 12 hours of yeah-we're-a-family-and-happy-to-be-here-at-this-reunion followed by 24 hours of whining, complaining, even more boredom and all out fighting. The only preconceived problem that did sneak it's way into our travels was a bit of boredom but beyond that we laughed, sang, watched movies, read, played games, laughed more, slept, told stories and, of course, snacked away on everything not good for us.
A few of the highlights:
*There were just enough technological things to save us from too much interaction with each other and just enough interaction to make good memories.
*Hyrum started to say "pee, pee" thinking it was the only way he could get out of his carseat. Hey, it worked for Nathan.
*I have never seen the pee-pee dance done in a carseat before but Nathan perfected it as we would frantically search for a decent place to stop. We are such responsible parents that he didn't pee once on the side of the road.
*Public restrooms are disgusting. The silver lining: after a weeks worth of hover squatting over filthy toilets I have fulfilled my quad workout for the week, and then some.
*Souvenier shops are money pits. Each of the kids had their own hard earned spending money for the trip and Nathan was thrilled to find a cowboy set complete with gun, sherriff's badge, holster and kerchief to take home as his Texas trophy (yes, the same one you can get at any dollar store in Idaho). Hyrum wanted a gun too. I have this thing about guns, even play ones. I don't like them, especially when my two year old keeps pretending to shoot me. I tried really hard to find something else for Hyrum and the closest thing I found that could replace the gun was a purple princess blow dryer. Even at two Hyrum knows the difference between a prissy purple princess blow dryer and a shiney silver sharp shooter. They both came home with guns.
*I consumed enough caffeinne and confections to either cause a lifelong addiction or a diabetic coma. It's so not fair that LeRoy can suck on the same tootsie roll (or licorice or bit-0-honey) for 30 minutes (what fun is that?). I can finish a bag of candy in the time he eats one piece. Oh, and how does 1 pound of tootsie rolls convert to 4 pounds on the scale? Not fair.
*I did listen to my ipod running list several times. I'm hoping that it somehow tricked my brain and muscles into thinking that I actually worked out instead of just pigged out this week. Unfortunately, my metabolism, blood sugar, fat cells and muscles are all well aware of the sugar high that has been constant for almost a week so it was probaby just a good music list to keep me awake while driving.
*Derek's motion sickness was held off with monitored doses of Dramamine and he did very well until we got to Idaho Falls, only 30 minutes left to go. I've never seen LeRoy pull over so fast!! Poor Derek.
*Not all hotel rooms are created equally. Thanks goodness they all have air conditioning. Some have more floor space than others. Some have more hot water than others. Few are made to hold a family of 8. Our house seemed HUGE when we checked back in.
2 comments:
Such fun pictures of your trip! I am amazed to hear that no fights broke out in your un-solitary confinement van. Thank heavens for technology (and Dramamine.)
Loved the pictures and commentary on the long trip to Texas and back. You make me laugh every time I read your blog. Thank you for being more consistent than I am at updating! :)
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