This past weekend I packed up the kids and the dogs and headed to Northern Virginia to visit Clif and his parents. Caitlyn and her fiance were also in town for a wedding. A few things I learned...
1 - Even with all the traffic Clif has to sit in to get to Richmond each week, I'm pretty sure it's way easier for him to travel than me. Clif brings one itty bitty bag each week. I brought my largest suitcase, a bag of toys, a bag of diapers, a bag of dog stuff, a bag of food supplies (baby food, cereal, cups, bottles, binkies, medicine, etc), a diaper bag, a stroller, two kids and two dogs. Clif can throw two shirts and a pair of jeans in the bag and be golden...I had 4 distinct lists. One for me, one for Ainsley, one for Freddie and a miscellaneous list.
2 - It really is not all my fault that I can't be anywhere on time these days - including work. Without the kids I am insanely quick and on time. Friday, I intended to leave work at 3:30 in order to get the dogs and bags in the car and be at daycare by 4:30. I left work at 3:50, got gas, got snacks, made it home, packed the car, loaded the dogs, pulled the trash and recycling bins back away from the street, got the mail and still made it to daycare by 4:30. Okay, it was 4:33, but still! However, this morning, I woke up a bit late. I should have been able to leave the house by 7:45...which puts me to work by 8:20...which even though is 20 minutes late, is still on time in my world. But, with two kids...wow, I just feel like I'm moving through sludge!!! Just - can't - get - out - the - door - and - when - I - do - I - inevitably - forget - SOMETHING!!!!! See, doesn't it suck reading that? That's how I feel like my life is moving some mornings, no, all mornings. I'm in slow motion but the clock seems to move faster than ever.
3 - Freddie and Brinkley HATE the car. I didn't feed the dogs on Friday or Sunday in hopes that Brinkley would not throw up during the car rides. He did, both ways. On Friday, Freddie started fussing around Ashland, was crying by Kings Dominion and had settled into an all out scream by Fredericksburg. He continued until we got off the highway, at which point he fell asleep for 10 minutes, then woke up and went right back to screaming until I pulled him out of the car seat. Sunday he was a asleep when we left, so that did buy us a bit more silence on the ride home, but he cried from our stop in Thornburg all the way to the front door.
4 - Northern Virginia is way too expensive. We had wanted to visit a pumpkin patch while there. You know, like a really fun pumpkin patch with hayrides and mazes and decorations and all. Well, everywhere that Clif found charged admission. And that didn't even count the pumpkins. I'm not talking a couple of bucks...no $15!!!! Are you freaking kidding me? I'm not laying down $45 for my family to go buy pumpkins!!! So we ended up at a pseudo pumpkin patch in a shopping center parking lot. Not at all what I had in mind. There was a hayride for $2. It drove around the parking lot, on concrete.
And there was a maze for free, with a slide at the end. It was about the size of my living room and the slide came up to my shoulders. Needless to say, it was a very citified pumpkin patch. Believe me, I have nothing against the city. You could not pay me to live out in the country somewhere...I like my conveniences. But when it comes to pumpkin patches and hayrides and picking Christmas trees you gotta go with the experience of the whole thing. That's what makes it fun. Otherwise you might as well buy pumpkins at the grocery store when you're picking up milk and have a fake tree. However, Ainsley loved it. She didn't really know the difference. Guess that's all that matters.
And there was a maze for free, with a slide at the end. It was about the size of my living room and the slide came up to my shoulders. Needless to say, it was a very citified pumpkin patch. Believe me, I have nothing against the city. You could not pay me to live out in the country somewhere...I like my conveniences. But when it comes to pumpkin patches and hayrides and picking Christmas trees you gotta go with the experience of the whole thing. That's what makes it fun. Otherwise you might as well buy pumpkins at the grocery store when you're picking up milk and have a fake tree. However, Ainsley loved it. She didn't really know the difference. Guess that's all that matters.
Sooo...all things I already knew, but it's nice to have them proven time and time again!
