Here is the long blog entry about our trip to Alabama.. fasten your seat belt.
A couple of months ago my dad brought up the fact that my step-niece was graduating from H
igh School down in Montgomery. Now I haven't been down to Montgomery that much since my dad and his wife moved down there, but I have watched Kirsten grow up from a little kid in the times that I have made it down there. It's hard to believe that she is graduating already. I remember one of the first times I visited I help my dad put together a plastic car for Christmas. I also heard that my Aunt and cousins were going to make the trip down for the graduation as well, and I haven't seen them in forever either. So after some discussion we decided to try and a make the trip. The only factor that was a real worry to me was how the boys would do in a car trip down there. I figured that it would be 13 hours with lunch/dinner/potty stops. They did really well in our trip to Rochester last year and that was 11 hours. As long as the DVD player holds up I figured that we would be good to go. The trip planning and packing started early and we were pretty well prepared. After getting off work on Wednesday night I was trying to load everything that I could in the van (aka. Herbie). Jen had to work so I wasn't sure about some of the stuff to load. Finally Jen gets home and we do what we can for the night. Jen settles in to watch the recorded tape of "Lost", but it's already 11:00pm and the finale is 2 hours long. I head to bed since we have a long drive in the morning. Just before going to bed I watch the weather forecast to see how the drive is going to be and they are all talking about a huge thunderstorm that is heading our way. Crap. Thunderstorms mean that the kids will be in our room. I crash quickly but start hearing the rumbles around 3:00am. Around 4:00am William comes in the room and won't sleep on his make shift bed on the floor so we let him sleep in the bed. The only problem with William sleeping in our bed is that he is all elbows and knees so he is no fun to sleep with. Shortly after that Andrew starts crying so Jen goes in to solve that problem. Even with Jen gone, William has to be right next to me. I finally get fed up and crash on the floor. The alarm goes off way to early, but I get out of bed and start getting ready. The boys are a pain to try and get up since they were up alot. I am trying to get out on the road by 7:30 - 8:00 since I didn't want to be getting to my dad's house after dark since I hadn't been there in 6 years or so. So after all the waking and loading we were pulling out of the garage at 8:45 which isn't too bad for us. The trip down was pretty uneventful. We ran into a little bit of rain, but the traffic wasn't too bad and we didn't hit any jams. The boys were glued to the DVD player and Christopher did great with a little bit of fussiness. We pulled into Montgomery a little after dark. They are an hour earlier than us so we actually gained an hour, but we spent the whole vacation with "their" time and "our" time. It was almost exactly 13 hours when we pulled up to the house. We were greeted by Dad, Betty, and Rugby (the dog). We visited a little bit and then put the boys to bed.
igh School down in Montgomery. Now I haven't been down to Montgomery that much since my dad and his wife moved down there, but I have watched Kirsten grow up from a little kid in the times that I have made it down there. It's hard to believe that she is graduating already. I remember one of the first times I visited I help my dad put together a plastic car for Christmas. I also heard that my Aunt and cousins were going to make the trip down for the graduation as well, and I haven't seen them in forever either. So after some discussion we decided to try and a make the trip. The only factor that was a real worry to me was how the boys would do in a car trip down there. I figured that it would be 13 hours with lunch/dinner/potty stops. They did really well in our trip to Rochester last year and that was 11 hours. As long as the DVD player holds up I figured that we would be good to go. The trip planning and packing started early and we were pretty well prepared. After getting off work on Wednesday night I was trying to load everything that I could in the van (aka. Herbie). Jen had to work so I wasn't sure about some of the stuff to load. Finally Jen gets home and we do what we can for the night. Jen settles in to watch the recorded tape of "Lost", but it's already 11:00pm and the finale is 2 hours long. I head to bed since we have a long drive in the morning. Just before going to bed I watch the weather forecast to see how the drive is going to be and they are all talking about a huge thunderstorm that is heading our way. Crap. Thunderstorms mean that the kids will be in our room. I crash quickly but start hearing the rumbles around 3:00am. Around 4:00am William comes in the room and won't sleep on his make shift bed on the floor so we let him sleep in the bed. The only problem with William sleeping in our bed is that he is all elbows and knees so he is no fun to sleep with. Shortly after that Andrew starts crying so Jen goes in to solve that problem. Even with Jen gone, William has to be right next to me. I finally get fed up and crash on the floor. The alarm goes off way to early, but I get out of bed and start getting ready. The boys are a pain to try and get up since they were up alot. I am trying to get out on the road by 7:30 - 8:00 since I didn't want to be getting to my dad's house after dark since I hadn't been there in 6 years or so. So after all the waking and loading we were pulling out of the garage at 8:45 which isn't too bad for us. The trip down was pretty uneventful. We ran into a little bit of rain, but the traffic wasn't too bad and we didn't hit any jams. The boys were glued to the DVD player and Christopher did great with a little bit of fussiness. We pulled into Montgomery a little after dark. They are an hour earlier than us so we actually gained an hour, but we spent the whole vacation with "their" time and "our" time. It was almost exactly 13 hours when we pulled up to the house. We were greeted by Dad, Betty, and Rugby (the dog). We visited a little bit and then put the boys to bed.A little more visiting and we went to sleep our self.
I thought with the long drive and late time to sleep that the boys would sleep in, but no such luck. 6:00am (their time) I hear Andrew in the front room saying "hello" so I get up and g
et some breakfast for him. Betty is an early riser too, so she was up soon after. After a little while everyone woke up and we had a nice relaxing breakfast. I actually felt pretty good after the long drive and short sleep. The boys are running all over the place so I know they are feeling pretty good too. Either that or they are just real excited at playing with the dog. (The poor dog) After a while we decide to go over to the Montgomery Zoo and check that out. We pull up to busloads of kids waiting to get in the zoo. Lucky for us it just looked impossible to get in and we walked right up to the entrance. Another bonus for the day is that our season pass to the Fort Wayne zoo also got us in free at the Montgomery zoo. The Montgomery zoo is a very nice zoo with alot of animals the Fort Wayne doesn't have. The first thing that William sees after getting into the zoo was their train that ran around the zoo. Of course this is the one thing that William fixates on so the whole time we are there he keeps asking if we are heading to the train. We kept saying no, look at the elephant. Finally we get to the train ride and it is like Fort Wayne's train only a little longer of a ride. Unfortunately the train passes by the animal cages, but the trees and bushes are so overgrown you can't see anything. After the train ride and an hour or so of walking around we decide to head home. It was real hot down there (compared to up here). We get home for nap time for the kids and me. Kirsten show up so we end up visiting for a little while. Man she got tall, not the little girl I remember. After that we just hung around the house. Whenever we visit, Betty has "snack night". This is a HUGE freakin' spread of all kinds of snack and appetizers. It's become quite the tradition to do this when we go down there and Betty does a great job in putting it all together. Most of it is home-made. So eat, drink, eat,drink and general merriment. Cami (Kirsten's mom) also comes to the house for snack night. Boys and us get to bed at a pretty good time.
et some breakfast for him. Betty is an early riser too, so she was up soon after. After a little while everyone woke up and we had a nice relaxing breakfast. I actually felt pretty good after the long drive and short sleep. The boys are running all over the place so I know they are feeling pretty good too. Either that or they are just real excited at playing with the dog. (The poor dog) After a while we decide to go over to the Montgomery Zoo and check that out. We pull up to busloads of kids waiting to get in the zoo. Lucky for us it just looked impossible to get in and we walked right up to the entrance. Another bonus for the day is that our season pass to the Fort Wayne zoo also got us in free at the Montgomery zoo. The Montgomery zoo is a very nice zoo with alot of animals the Fort Wayne doesn't have. The first thing that William sees after getting into the zoo was their train that ran around the zoo. Of course this is the one thing that William fixates on so the whole time we are there he keeps asking if we are heading to the train. We kept saying no, look at the elephant. Finally we get to the train ride and it is like Fort Wayne's train only a little longer of a ride. Unfortunately the train passes by the animal cages, but the trees and bushes are so overgrown you can't see anything. After the train ride and an hour or so of walking around we decide to head home. It was real hot down there (compared to up here). We get home for nap time for the kids and me. Kirsten show up so we end up visiting for a little while. Man she got tall, not the little girl I remember. After that we just hung around the house. Whenever we visit, Betty has "snack night". This is a HUGE freakin' spread of all kinds of snack and appetizers. It's become quite the tradition to do this when we go down there and Betty does a great job in putting it all together. Most of it is home-made. So eat, drink, eat,drink and general merriment. Cami (Kirsten's mom) also comes to the house for snack night. Boys and us get to bed at a pretty good time.B
right and early Saturday morning I once again hear Andrew up at 6:00am. Hey, at least they aren't waking me up in the middle of the night. After another lazy morning of getting up and having breakfast we decide to head out and see the Children's part of a museum with Kirsten. it's a pretty neat little area of the museum that is very hands on and has lots of activities. The museum is in the same area as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Yes.. two things that don't really go together, Alabama and Shakespeare. We had fun at the museum, and of course the boys had the most fun feeding the ducks,turtles, and fish outside. After that we took the kids home and my dad and I had some errands to run in town (we had a list). First stop was a casino that was recently built near their house. They say casino, I say, pull-barn with a bunch of electronic games. It's all on cards so you don't hear the sound of change hitting the pans. We walked in and out of that place. Next stop was to drop of some trash. After that it was the great search for beer. Dad wanted to get Coors light in bottles, but our first stop to Walmart and then to Cosco but they only had cans. So back in the truck and over to Sams Club. Both of these places are basically the same thing, even in the store layouts. I was able to find the 4th book of the Twilight series for Jen to read on the way home. She blew through the 3rd book on the way down. While at Cosco dad remembered hat he had to pick up a cake for Kirsten's graduation party. Unfortunately in getting the cake, the fun part of our running around (hitting a bucket of balls) wasn't going to happen, at least not without melting the cake in the heat. We get back and Betty has put together a very tasty looking lasagna, but all of a sudden I feel some pain in my left side. It's the familiar feeling of a kidney stone so I wasn't able to eat anything. Lucky for me after an hour or so the pain let up and I was feeling better the next day. My dad's pool isn't heated (it doesn't need to be, it's Alabama) so it wasn't warm, but it wasn't too cold. Basically it was lake temperature. The boys were having fun putting their feet in the water so I decided to try it out and put on my suit. The first dive was pretty cold, but I got used to it very fast. The boys put their suits on too and joined me in the pool. William has had swim lessons, but still doesn't swim that well. After playing in the pool for a while, some dark clouds rolled in and we started hearing thunder so we decided to call it a day for the pool. More merriment and visiting with my dad until dark. The boys found out that there was a TV in the front room that could get satellite so they would go in there to watch Disney while we watched whatever we wanted to.
right and early Saturday morning I once again hear Andrew up at 6:00am. Hey, at least they aren't waking me up in the middle of the night. After another lazy morning of getting up and having breakfast we decide to head out and see the Children's part of a museum with Kirsten. it's a pretty neat little area of the museum that is very hands on and has lots of activities. The museum is in the same area as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Yes.. two things that don't really go together, Alabama and Shakespeare. We had fun at the museum, and of course the boys had the most fun feeding the ducks,turtles, and fish outside. After that we took the kids home and my dad and I had some errands to run in town (we had a list). First stop was a casino that was recently built near their house. They say casino, I say, pull-barn with a bunch of electronic games. It's all on cards so you don't hear the sound of change hitting the pans. We walked in and out of that place. Next stop was to drop of some trash. After that it was the great search for beer. Dad wanted to get Coors light in bottles, but our first stop to Walmart and then to Cosco but they only had cans. So back in the truck and over to Sams Club. Both of these places are basically the same thing, even in the store layouts. I was able to find the 4th book of the Twilight series for Jen to read on the way home. She blew through the 3rd book on the way down. While at Cosco dad remembered hat he had to pick up a cake for Kirsten's graduation party. Unfortunately in getting the cake, the fun part of our running around (hitting a bucket of balls) wasn't going to happen, at least not without melting the cake in the heat. We get back and Betty has put together a very tasty looking lasagna, but all of a sudden I feel some pain in my left side. It's the familiar feeling of a kidney stone so I wasn't able to eat anything. Lucky for me after an hour or so the pain let up and I was feeling better the next day. My dad's pool isn't heated (it doesn't need to be, it's Alabama) so it wasn't warm, but it wasn't too cold. Basically it was lake temperature. The boys were having fun putting their feet in the water so I decided to try it out and put on my suit. The first dive was pretty cold, but I got used to it very fast. The boys put their suits on too and joined me in the pool. William has had swim lessons, but still doesn't swim that well. After playing in the pool for a while, some dark clouds rolled in and we started hearing thunder so we decided to call it a day for the pool. More merriment and visiting with my dad until dark. The boys found out that there was a TV in the front room that could get satellite so they would go in there to watch Disney while we watched whatever we wanted to. Sunday was graduation day. I heard Andrew up again bright and early, but by the time I got out to the front room Betty was already up and feeding him an Oreo poptart. I was kind of surprised to see him eating that since he isn't a real big chocolate eater. The rest of the house is gradually waking up. Betty is in the kitchen cooking like crazy since they are having a get together at the house after graduation. Out of the corner of my eye I see Andrew walking toward the front room and then the familiar sound of him throwing up all over the place. I quickly get up and try to catch as much as possible in my hands. My dad is telling me to get him outside, but he usually has one big puke and he is done, and the fact that if I don't move him I will only have one spot to clean rather than a trail. Of course it's the oreo poptart all over the WHITE carpet. I am mortified and quickly try to clean it up as fast as I can. Lucky for me they have a carpet clea
ner just like ours, so I spend the next half hour trying to get is as clean as humanly possible. This was the first incident of many for Andrew for the day including bloody toes and other bodily harm. We eventually get ready and head out to the graduation. It was a very rainy day in Alabama. The boys did pretty well at the graduation and behaved pretty good. After the graduation we all headed back to the house for another large meal. Betty put out a huge spread including a whole baked ham, a ton of chicken breasts, and alot of other great food. I am not sure how much weight I gained on vacation, but I know I did. Only one of my cousins made it over for the graduation,so I was a little bummed about that, but it was good to see him. Eventually the party broke up and we did some more visiting and whatnot. I loaded as much in the van as possible again, but again I had to wait on stuff. I wanted to get going early again if it was possible.
ner just like ours, so I spend the next half hour trying to get is as clean as humanly possible. This was the first incident of many for Andrew for the day including bloody toes and other bodily harm. We eventually get ready and head out to the graduation. It was a very rainy day in Alabama. The boys did pretty well at the graduation and behaved pretty good. After the graduation we all headed back to the house for another large meal. Betty put out a huge spread including a whole baked ham, a ton of chicken breasts, and alot of other great food. I am not sure how much weight I gained on vacation, but I know I did. Only one of my cousins made it over for the graduation,so I was a little bummed about that, but it was good to see him. Eventually the party broke up and we did some more visiting and whatnot. I loaded as much in the van as possible again, but again I had to wait on stuff. I wanted to get going early again if it was possible.Around 5:30am (their time) Christopher woke up. (he was sleeping in the same room as us) and he was wide awake. We tried to lay him in the bed with us to get a Little more sleep, but he wouldn't hear of it. It actually worked out since we got a little earlier start. But again the chore of getting everyone up, dressed, fed, and yada yada yada it was around 8:00am (their time) before we finally hit the road. Again another uneventful drive back to Fort Wayne. The boys did very well again, with Christopher being a little more fussy that first time. The only difference in this trip is that that boys were eating like we hadn't fed them in a week. They barely touched the snack food on the way down, but hit them HARD on the way home. Even after their snackfest they still ate the meals when we stopped for Lunch (Cracker Barrel) and dinner (Pizza Hut). I was real tempted to not stop for dinner since we were only about an hour and a half away from home, but the boys hadn't been out of the van in a while, and we didn't have any food at the house so we decided to stop. We got home at around 13 hours again,but the drive didn't seem that bad. Pulled in the driveway, called everyone to let them know we made it home safe, put the boys to bed, did a quasi unpacking and finally headed to bed after a bit of an unwind.
Overall the trip was really great. The boys did well in the van, and didn't destroy my dad's house too much, even though his collection of cars might need some repair. It was a good time, but next time I think we will do a whole week down there.
Thanks to Dad, Betty, Kirsten and Cami for a fantastic time
No comments:
Post a Comment