Road Trip!

When Carol told me she had to transport some puppies down to south Georgia on Saturday, of course, I jumped at the chance to go! I am always ready for an ordeal , I mean adventure. Of course, we brought the kids along. So we had five dogs, five kids, two frazzled adults and 5,000 snacks crammed in my Suburban. Party time!!!

We left early in the morning, so we had plenty of time, unless anything went wrong. As we soon discovered, something always goes wrong when you travel with kids. Certain small people needed to pee every thirty minutes, (except for Catherine, who doesn't use public toilets because she is afraid she will get flushed away).

Soon we were a tad behind schedule, but we did get to meet many interesting people at all the rest stops along the way.

The poor rescuer had to wait quite a while for us to arrive, but he was a good sport about it.

 Then we got a surprise, but not the good kind. When we tried to start the car, it was totally dead. So, here we are, in Ludowici, GA, which is not a huge metropolis, stuck. That was ok though, because this was an adventure! Before I could even start to cry, a very nice man came from the meat store and jump started my battery.

Francesca didn't seem to be very concerned, after all, she had french fries. 

 Some of us were better passengers than others. Catherine was furious because "Isabella was taking her air".  She still wouldn't use the bathroom. We chose to ignore the little siren and began singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" at increasing decibels. We were kind of in a battle of wills. Catherine's screams vs. Christmas carols. I am proud to say we finally won. Catherine fell asleep for 15 whole minutes! My voice is still a little hoarse and I may be going deaf.

Victoria found creative ways to amuse herself. Her favorite game was "balance the apple on my nose". Carol took this picture because I was in another bathroom at the time. I remember this bathroom didn't have any lights or flushing ability. Ahh, memories!

After the puppies left, we decided to go to the beach! We were a little afraid of turning the car off, but hey, sometimes you have to take risks. Our excitement was building as we saw signs that we were getting closer! We were hopeful that we might even get to see the ocean before it got dark!

Lovely moss hung from the trees as we made our way to St. Simon's island. What a beautiful place!  I plan to move there as soon as I win the lottery.

At long last, we finally made it to the beach. Guess who loved the ocean and guess who did not?

Doesn't she just look so sweet and quiet here?  Pictures can be very deceiving!

I had kind of hoped that I would have been able to move around a little more, but this was not to be. They clung to me like kuzu clings to a tree.

Of course, Victoria loved it! She loved the sand and she didn't mind at all if a wave washed over her.

"EEEEEEEEE! Don't let the water touch me! Don't let the sand touch me! Don't let the slimy plants touch me!  Get me out of here!"

This picture depicts how each of the little ones viewed the experience. Catherine immediately wanted to leave as soon as we got there.

Isabella and Anastasia could have stayed forever, except there wasn't a bathroom nearby.

Victoria really loved throwing the sand around. Carol had a new sand hair-do by the time we left.

This would have been a sweet picture, but I think my butt looks rather large here.

Totally worth it! Plus, I got a magnet!

We finally decided to head home at around 8 pm. We knew it was going to be a long drive home, but we thought for sure the kids would be so tired they would sleep the whole way since no one had a nap. I think we under-estimated them. Let the screaming begin!

After a brief detour into South Carolina at 2 am (they really should make the signs with neon lights), we finally made it home at four in the morning. We were sandy, sticky and exhausted, but everyone had a wonderful time!

Hope you all had a great weekend!