My Spontaneous Trip

My mom called 9am Thursday morning. She needed to drive to Tampa and see my sister “The Dentist”. I decided it would be fun to bring the kids and go along for a couple of days; plus I have never had the opportunity to take a trip in the middle of the week… what was I thinking?! Why did I think making a five hour drive with two kids would be a good idea?

I packed our bags and the cooler (yes, we nee an assortment of juice boxes, sippy cups and bottles for the drive up and back). In toll we had my huge overnight duffel bag with enough clothes, diapers, pull-ups, bottles and toys to last and entertain for three days, the giant blue cooler (that was placed in between the carseats), the umbrella stroller, my mom’s overnight bag, Addison’s portable potty seat, an assortment of DVD’s and my diaper bag. And we were off…

Two hours into our drive we see a sign stating the exit 141 was closed- great we were on Alligator Alley and no turn off. What do we do now? Nothing! We sat in traffic for an hour. Meanwhile, Addison is in the back crying she had to go potty. We pull over and try to get her to go on the side of the road- NO WAY! We could not go anywhere. We were traveling four miles per hour if even that fast. Finally Addison gave up and we assumed she went in her pull-ups.

We made it through the traffic and come to a rest stop just before the skymile bridge going to St. Petersburg. We stop; Addison and her carseat are soaking wet. We get both babies cleaned up and head back to the car to finish the last two hours of our drive.

Before we load ourselves in, Addison found a little log to sit on looking out to the inlet. She turned to me and asked that Jackson sit next to her. This by far was the best moment of our drive up.

The couple of days just snowballed from there.

We made it to my sister’s house. After dinner we decided to take the kids swimming(it was 8pm). Addison pooped in her swimsuit, in the pool. As quickly and quietly as we could we undressed her then rinsed her and the swim suit. My mom ran into the house to get her underware. I went over (holding Jackson) to check how “the clean-up was going” and slipped in the poop! As I mentioned it was 8pm and dark! Needless to say, we cleaned up the kids and pool area, gave them a bath and left my sisters.

During our visit, we stayed in a couple of different hotel rooms.

On our way to the first hotel we ended up circling the Tampa airport. We finally arrived and the stoned front desk boy (he was barely a teenager) informed us our room was on the second floor; with no elevator. It was 9:30pm both babies were cranky and wanting to be held. We had the giant cooler, both over night bags, the bag of toys, Addison’s potty seat and my diaper bag strategically placed on the umbrella stroller so we could make it up in one trip. Well the stoned boy decided to carry the umbrella stroller, which was beyond loaded, up the stairs (after I protested more than once) - I am sure you can see where this was going… at the fifth step everything went rolling down. I tell him to forget it, make it up the stairs, back outside and down 15 doors to our room. The stroller is broken-AHHHHHH!

We left the hotel, packing all our stuff and the babies back into the car (thinking we were leaving after our visit to my sister’s dental office). We headed to get breakfast then our teeth worked on. FUN...

For two days we lived on McDonalds. We ate it for breakfast and lunch. My daughter decided she liked the Littlest Pet Shop toys they are carrying;she desperatly wanted the giraffe. No luck- sorry Addison maybe next time.

Four hours later, I had my cleaning but my mom and to go elsewhere. We go get lunch; What a nightmare! The kids were miserable, my mom got horrible news and I was now finding out we were going to stay in another hotel- I was pissed.

I go to my sisters and wait for them to come back from the second appointment of the day.

My mom tries to eat leftovers from last night (but after having two root canals she is quit uncomfortable), Addison refuses to eat (she wants to go swimming) and Jackson is, well, just miserable. I decided to get everyone ready; I did not arrive at the hotel late. This time we choose a hotel across the street from my sister’s house, with an elevator!

We settle in; Addison hates the room and is having a meltdown which in turn causes Jackson to meltdown (AHHHH is now SHIT!)

They finally fall asleep at 8:30pm; my mom and I not far behind them. We get up in the morning travel yet again to McDonalds and bring breakfast back to the room. Both kids are happy. We put them in their swim suits and take them downstairs for a little playtime in the kiddie fountain; the second most relaxing part of our spontaneous trip.


My sister drives over to say goodbye. We pack up and are off for our five hour journey home.

We make a stop at another McDonald’s for another Happy Meal. We sit down to eat but Addison wants to see her toy (three toys in she is hoping this time it is the giraffe). I pull out the toy and it is one for a boy. My mom quickly swoops it up and brings it back to the cashier. To my surprise she comes back with the giraffe- she is Addison’s superhero.

The rest of the drive home was listening to Addison play with her beloved giraffe while Jackson was soundly sleeping.

What was I thinking taking a spontaneous trip with two kids?...

Making more memories…

I got to spend two days with my mom (Gredda), with my sister (Aunt Monka “The Dentist”), watching as my two children contently gazed into the inlet, watching them squeal and play in a fountain and finding the golden giraffe… pretty amazing, disasters and all!