The Truth About Traveling with Tinies

I learned a thing or two during our trip to Maryland and back that I feel compelled to share:

1. Even when she's just gone potty, Ireland will desperately need to pee the second she catches sight of the hotel pool. Liesel had been happily splashing around when she stopped to inform Ireland, "Just pee in the pool! I do it ALL the time!" This was said just as the hotel maintenance man walked through the door. Liesel continued trying to convince Ireland that, "the blue stuff cleans it up."

2. Matching jammies are a must. When we went down for breakfast, the hotel staff and fellow guests treated us like queens. I barely had to lift a finger to get the girls fed as everyone fell over themselves to make waffles and fetch juice for them. You have to admit that fuzzy hair is rather endearing.

3. Fighting on a road trip is a rite of passage. Even having a DVR entertainment system will not stop them from this (apparently) all-important element of being a kid. I couldn't believe it when Liesel complained, "Ireland's touching my car seat!" Really? Really!?!

4. There is unparalleled joy in singing Rascal Flatts Life is a Highway at the top of your lungs with your kids as you barrel down the interstate. "Through all these cities and all these towns it's in my blood and it's all around." Memories I will have forever!

5. A car seat puts Brigitta in prime pooping position. She had 5 blowouts in two days on the road. Two of those were so bad I just threw away the onesie because it was up to the neck! I ran out of clothes (which I packed 3 times what I normally would) at a service station in Ohio. One look at the gift shop told me she'd either have to look like a homeless baby in just her diaper and a blanket or she'd have to wear something with the Ohio State emblem all over it. I opted for the homeless baby look (Hawkeye fans ya know). After digging through the car, the VERY LAST thing on hand that was clean and dry was Liesel's swim cover up. When I texted Brent this picture, he commented that she looked like a baby version of Lord Palpatine from Star Wars.

6. There is an entropy to eating out when you're on the road. Our first stop was Culvers where I had the grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo and a bottled water to drink. For snacks I munched on raw carrots. I won't tell you what I had on our last stop coming back but let's just say I was scanning the dessert menu first and seriously considering getting two jumbo sodas to complete my meal. I was snacking on Big Macs and is it just me, or have those shrunk in the past few years?

7. A hotel is thrilling. To an adult it may just be a place to clean up and rest your head but to a child it is mysterious and exciting. There are tv channels to surf, a pool to scout out and of course, the serious business of filling the ice bucket (even if no one really uses the ice). That you are surrounded on all sides with fellow travelers puts you in a very exclusive club which is certainly worth getting giddy over.

8. Check your parenting skills at the door. Reagan was moving a car seat from my car to hers and it was giving her a hard time. She muttered, "darn it" which Ireland overheard and immediately offered, "No, not darn it, DAMMIT." Reagan said she corrected her 3 times to make sure she'd get it right. I'd like to say I don't know where she heard that from but let's be honest, I was traveling alone with 3 little girls. It probably came from me.

9. The grass isn't always greener. We ran into a fair amount of business travelers at the various hotels. I couldn't help but notice their furtive glances at the girls. In the elevator, one business traveler kindly asked Liesel to press the button to his floor and then peppered me with questions about names, ages, etc. Having been on that end of life, I realized they have families too. No matter how exciting the city, how nice the hotel, how fancy the restaurant, it's hard to be away from those you love.

10. It's worth it. A lot of people were horrified at my plans to drive across the country alone with the girls. Seeing the cousins together and chatting with my sister (who yes, I saw on the other end of the country about a month ago) made the hours on the road worth it. I love to travel and having kids hasn't changed that. It's just altered the methods a bit. They say traveling kids are made, not born so I hope to cultivate this aspect in my girls. Now if only they could keep their hands to themselves...

Chocolate World, Hershey PA

Hershey Factory Workers

When I told my parents about my plans to go to Maryland for Spring Break, they insisted we make a stop in Hershey, PA to visit Chocolate World. Reagan sprung her kids from school to join us so the girls got to experience everything with their cousins. By this time, Piper had made a career of carrying Ireland around everywhere which Ireland loved. Those two made an interesting kinship. It's like they didn't mind the older/younger sister dynamic when it was with someone else's sister. Paisley and Liesel were fast friends and I'd often turn around to find them holding hands. So very, very cute. Reagan and I toted around Rockwell and Brigitta who took everything in stride.

Ireland nibbling on a kiss

Reagan wisely took us into town a bit so we could see the street lamps shaped like Hershey's Kisses. The girls became "workers" in the factory and we did the ride which led us through the chocolate making process. Unbelievably, both of those activities were completely free! I made up the cost savings in the huge gift shop. Logically I probably should have stocked up on candy for Easter but I couldn't resist the chocolate colored hoodies. Reagan generously bought all the girls little packets of Hershey Kisses in a flavor of their choice. They contentedly munched on those and we soaked up the last bit of time we had together.

With the world's largest Hershey bar

I really wanted to do the make your own chocolate bar experience (TOFFEE! You can never have too much toffee in your chocolate!) but the wait was 30 min. Some small part of me was also feeling a tad guilty for all the fun Brent was missing so I kinda wanted to leave that for our next visit.

That would make A LOT of chocolate milk!

We stopped by a gas station to fill up and say goodbye. As we pulled out, Liesel burst into tears and sobbed, "I'm going to miss those guys!" So sweet. I told her it was okay to cry and cry she did. I have to admit I started feeling a bit empty as well. We all had such a great time and I can't wait to go back.

Everyone in their Chocolate World clothing. Liesel and Ireland now call anything in any shade of brown, "chocolate-colored". 

Port Discovery

The Queen

The Jester

The Knight

The Baltimore children's museum was fantastic! We didn't even have time to see everything because the girls loved playing in the central climbing structure so much, they spent a chunk of time there. Reagan and I took Rockwell and Brigitta to the baby section where they rolled, squirmed and licked toys (which subsequently went in the "dirty" bin). After that, Reagan insisted we go to the diner section and the girls pretended to wait on us. It was hilarious seeing them scramble to get our orders, Piper seriously put me under when I kept teasing her about getting my hot chocolate with nutmeg wrong. She had just plopped a "drink" in front of me when I asked her what it was. She responded cheerfully, "It's.... what you ordered!" I asked her to repeat what I ordered and she said, "Hot chocolate with... hot nut." Oh that girl is a doll!

There was an exhibit on The Wizard of Oz with this rainbow arch in pieces. The pieces were numbered and all these kids just couldn't get it right. It was driving me crazy (Hello! The pieces were numbered! Not rocket science!!!) and I was just about to go and do it myself when a dad stepped in and started building it. Another mom started helping him and even Reagan kicked him pieces (her arms were full with little Rockwell). He finally stepped aside just as he got the keystone piece in place and all of us parents looked around at those energetic kids. It's almost like you could HEAR everyone thinking, "They'd better not knock this down after all the work we just put into it!" So I got a picture of the girls under it for posterity's sake. 

The time in the fake diner made me really hungry for a real diner. After leaving the museum, we went to a place down by the water called Jimmy's where we had the NICEST waitress in the world! She loved the girls and never tired of filling chocolate milk orders. I chowed on a taco salad while Reagan and I talked of shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings!

There was a boutique deceptively named "Cupcake" just a few doors down which sold women's clothing. Of course that got us hankering for real cupcakes. One iPhone search and a short drive led us to Charm City Cupcakes. It should be noted this is in no way related to Charm City Cakes (as any good fan of the show knows Duff hates cupcakes). Still, it was just what we'd been craving. 

Crabby Kid

To have an authentic Maryland experience, we simply had to have some good seafood! Allen found an excellent place along the water and Reagan insisted I was going to shell a crab. She talked me through the process and somewhere between pulling off the reproductive organs and scraping out the gills I just couldn't do it. I was perfectly happy with my lump crab cakes and didn't feel a need to be initiated. Apparently Ireland's not so skittish and was paying close attention to the demonstration. While the other kids colored, she sidled up to Reagan, grabbed a crab, flipped it over, and began taking a knife to it like it was her second job. My jaw dropped as she cracked that thing open, ripped off legs, tore out meat and dipped it in butter like she was born doing it. Notice Reagan's jab at me in the video...

Good to know Ireland is handy with a mallet when the situation calls for one. 

Ireland is THREE!!!

Her official 3 year old photos. This one is my favorite.

Ireland had QUITE the third birthday celebration! She started the day opening her highly anticipated presents. Among them was the traditional piggy bank with rolls of quarters, dimes, nickles and pennies along with a $2 bill to celebrate leaving her "twos". She's actually needed that piggy bank for a while now as Ireland has a particular talent for finding change on the ground.

The tray was so high for Ireland we had to prop her up on pillows.

After presents, she had breakfast in bed. We took her menu order a few days earlier and she was adamant that she wanted Mac N Cheese and chocolate milk. While she noshed on that, we all said one thing we love about Ireland. I said I love her naked bum, Brent said he loves her smile and Liesel said she loves that Ireland gives her all her presents... Brent and I stifled laughter as best we could because Liesel was being totally sincere. Brigitta was still asleep but once she awoke we asked her what she loved about Ireland and her smiley face suddenly turned very serious. It's like she was thinking very, VERY hard about it.  

We then did our usual morning routine. While I did Ireland's hair we looked at old blog posts from past birthdays (I was floored by how much she's changed from one year ago) and then I found this video on YouTube:
Can you name all the songs weaved in with the traditional Happy Birthday? Here's a hint, there's some Mozart, Chopin, Debussy and Liszt. I love watching his fingers fly all over those ivories!

After dropping Liesel off at preschool, Ireland and I stopped by a bakery to put in our order. I'd hoped to get a pie since Ireland is a "Pi Baby" (ie born on 3/14) but they wouldn't have been able to make it in time. Next year. Ireland opted for a pretty strawberry cake and while they iced "Happy Birthday" on top, she nibbled on a chocolate petit-four. We then continued our hunt for the perfect preschool (our latest mission) and were pleasantly surprised to find one that will be about as perfect a fit as possible. More on that later...

Feeling triumphant and a little tired after lunch, I cuddled up and took a nap with my girl (not many of those are left in our future!). When we woke up, the whole family headed out for a few errands and then to Ireland's favorite restaurant for dinner- The Olive Garden. Our waitress was kind enough to bring TWO small bowls of black olives just for Ireland and kept the chocolate milk a plenty throughout the meal. The timing couldn't have been better; we were seated right away and when we finally left we passed tons of people waiting to be called for a table.

Finally we headed home to have cake and end the night with Charlotte's Web for movie night. It was a big day for this little girl and it made me a little sad to see how excited she is to grow up. A lot of parents bemoan the "terrible twos" but I have to say Ireland has been nothing short of a delight. Many thanks for all the text messages and phone calls wishing our little Ireland the best of birthdays!

Punxsatawny Phil is a Liar

If this is an early spring I'd rather have a late winter. So when it started snowing yet again I mashed bananas, chopped pecans and set the oven to 375 degrees F. As I slathered butter onto those warm slices of banana bread and shared them with my girls... for just a moment... I didn't mind the lingering winter weather.

For just a moment.

Home Teacher

Brent reading the home teaching message from the Ensign before visiting one of his families.

Liesel's Favorite Outfit

I had to get a picture of this before it becomes completely threadbare and faded. If this outfit is available, Liesel reaches for it. She knows better than to try and sneak it past me on a cold, winter day (like today) for say, school. But she slyly asked if we were going anywhere this afternoon. When I told her we weren't she came skipping out of her room cautiously pointing out her school clothes had gotten dirty so she needed to change.

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Liesel loves this outfit and will pull it out at every opportunity. The top and skirt are constantly in the wash because she's constantly wearing it. The other day she noticed the snow melting from her car window and excitedly told me when it was warm enough she could finally wear her skirt to school! The sandals printed on the t-shirt were once a bit sparklier and the skirt really is starting to fade, but Liesel doesn't seem to notice. She twirls and dances happily and it makes me think of the outfits I adored as a kid. I'm sure they were thrown out once they wore out. Perhaps I'll set this one aside and try to preserve it for her...

It Had Been a Day...

...you know, one of THOSE days. I was exhausted. I wanted the girls in bed asleep so the cacophony would finally stop and I could just think for two seconds in blissful silence. As they pulled on their pajamas, I started a fire. Then they gathered around it's warm glow. Even Brigitta inched her way towards it.

And I knew I had to snap a photo before this moment in time was over and gone.

Tidbits

Family Movie Night is a big deal in this house. The girls take everything from the popcorn to the MnM's to the Root Beer to how we share the blanket very seriously. The one thing they DON'T take seriously? The movie. Brent and I are becoming experts on the G rated genre while the girls just enjoy their weekly dose of sugar. In this picture, I'd just pulled out the popcorn popper when Ireland ran to grab the heavy bag of popcorn kernels. 

Is there anything better than a bubble bath in the dead of winter? I think not.

Every now and again I take the girls out for some one on one time. Ireland loves the Olive Garden because they give her lots of (duh!) olives and the staff are always so nice to her. Oddly enough, Ireland could eat salad all day, everyday. 

At the end of this particular visit to the Olive Garden, as I was settling the bill, Ireland picked up her fork and announced, "Your in jail! Whatdya do? Whatdya do?" I laughed SO hard!

On our way into the house I showed Ireland how to catch the gently falling snowflakes on her tongue. It took a while to convince her to come in the house after that...

Every time I dress Ireland, I gather her shirt and then look at her through the neck hole. For whatever reason she thinks I'm hilarious and she always laughs. I'm going to be so sad when my daughters grow up and think I'm just weird.

The girls were taking a bath the other day and from down the hall I heard Ireland say to Liesel, "How do we get out of the bath?" A second later they both shouted in unison, "SAVE US!!!"

Aside from Family Movie Night, we never drink soda. Milk for breakfast and then water the rest of the day is the norm in this house. Whenever the girls get a sip of something carbonated, they call it "spicy." I love seeing them take a sip of Root Beer, grimace and then proclaim, "This Root Beer is spicy!"

We've developed a new game with Liesel to keep her occupied during sacrament meeting. Brent or I will draw a shape on a piece of paper and Liesel has to complete the drawing. At first we did simple things like a square, a circle and now we've started throwing in some squiggles and odd-shaped things to start her out. Today she turned to me and whispered, "I'm going to draw you something that you'll love, love, LOVE!"