Road Trippin' Part 1

Three years ago, my parents reluctantly moved about 6 hours away (8 hours if you stop for lunch and potty breaks) for my dad's job. They drive down to see us once or twice a month, but until this week, we had only ever been up there once--we got there the day they moved into their house, in fact! Keira was about Ellie's age and I was about five minutes pregnant with Ellie at that time, so as far as the girls were concerned, this week's trip was a totally new experience. Keira had been counting down the days for months, and I finally had to make her a calendar for on the fridge so she could cross out a day every night for the last 5 or 6 weeks!

I did quite a bit of preparing before we left, using Moms Minivan for a few ideas and packing up everything I could think of that might entertain the girls in the car. It didn't help that the day we left coincided with what desperate-for-drama media sources were calling "Carmageddon," so there was the unlikely but looming possibility that we'd be reenacting that episode of "Married...With Children" where they're parked on the freeway for the entire weekend. Thankfully, Carmageddon went the way of the Y2K scare and the freeways were practically vacant, so we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the media for scaring everyone into staying home and clearing the way for us!

I made sticker charts to help the girls keep track of our mileage, and Keira was totally stoked to get a new sticker every hour or two:


And this turned out to be a huge hit with Keira as well--so much so that I had to draw up several more, because we made the mistake of helping her find these things, and it took her no time at all to cross them all off!


Saturday: Driving There

We'd packed the car and filled up the gas tank the night before, and Bear and I got up early (for us) so we could get ready before the girls got up. At around 8am, we woke them up, changed their clothes, and buckled them in, with cups of chocolate milk and bags of cereal awaiting them...and off we went! (I highly recommend this method over the "drive all night long while the kids sleep" idea that people keep passing around. Who wants to show up exhausted in the morning and then be dragged around all day by well-rested children??)

Here they are, with our borrowed DVD players in place (thanks, Heidi and Craig!) and sticker charts in hand, ready to go!


I had packed each of their backpacks with some small toys, a doll with a bottle, sunglasses, books, and other stuff I thought might hold their attention for a little while. The first things they pulled out were the dolls:


It wasn't long, though, before we busted out the clipboard, crayons, and PBS Kids printables.



The girls did great, and we drove about 4 hours (with a brief Starbucks-and-potty break) before stopping for lunch at what may be the only Del Taco in the universe with a play land. Score!


Kiwi is such a sweet big sister, and Bear and I cracked up watching her heave Ellie's bum up onto the top level of the play structure every time they went up together. She even introduced Ellie to the other kids there: "This is my little sister, Elliana. She's just learning how to climb up here." Melt!



We made it to Grammy and Grampy's house by around 4:30 (of course, our audio book of Dr. Seuss stories bored soothed Ellie to sleep only a few minutes before we got there), and after the girls peeked at their back yard and nifty hot tub...

...Grampy took us on a little tour of the factory he runs. I'm willing to bet this is the first and only time flowered dresses and sparkle sandals have made an appearance on this fork lift!


The girls each snagged a pair of safety glasses for their very own, and wore them nonstop for the rest of the day (you're welcome, Target shoppers).



Speaking of Target, it was during that stop that a little girl saw Kiwi and Ells in their matching dresses, and exclaimed to her mother, "Look, Mommy! That [Keira] must be the human, and that [Ellie] must be her dolly! Can I get one of those?" I think my mom is still laughing about that one!

Sunday: San Francisco

The next morning, we all took a little day trip to San Francisco. We stuck to the touristy stuff (Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square) and enjoyed the fact that it was chilly, especially compared to the weather back at our house!

The girls rode on the double-decker carousel...


...and then we passed by the street performers' stage just in time for a guy once featured on "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" to do a series of stunts that included pounding a nail into his nostril. Note Keira's reaction to this:


I really, really wanted to run up there and assure her that it was all fake...but I was laughing so hard, tears streaming down my face, that I couldn't. Poor kiddo. In my defense, her horror only lasted a few seconds, and she jumped up and cheered with everyone else when he pulled it back out. See?


After that, we stopped by the beach...


...then scored a little chocolate on our way back to the car and headed back to Grammy and Grampy's house.

Every night at bedtime, the girls snuggled up on the pull-out bed to watch a movie. Kiwi stayed there to sleep most of the nights, but I moved Ellie into the spare room on an inflatable mattress because I was afraid she'd roll off the bed. Good thing--one night, I went in to check on her and found her sleeping under the computer desk!


Monday: Jelly Belly Factory!
When we found out there's a Jelly Belly factory in the area, and that it gives free tours, we were all over it! They gave us all stylish hats to wear during the tour:






Photography was banned during the actual tour--I guess they're afraid one of us might go all Slugworth from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and steal their top secret ideas! It was fun, though, and at the end, they gave us each a bag of assorted jelly beans, and then released us into their GIANT STORE OF ULTIMATE SUGARY GOODNESS. I couldn't resist getting Heidi and Craig's three boys a set of the BeanBoozled beans (similar to Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from the Harry Potter books), where gnarly flavors like Barf, Skunk Spray, and Booger are mixed in with their much tastier look-alike flavors. It comes with a spinner that tells you which one you have to try when it's your turn. Good luck, boys!

Grammy and Grampy live right across the street from a park, so when we got back home, the girls wanted to go check it out. I can't believe what a grown-up little beauty Kiwi is!

Wednesday: Fairytale Town & Sacramento Zoo

These two are right across the street from each other, and they have really inexpensive combo tickets to visit both, so it made for an easy, fun day. Fairytale Town should really be called Fairytale, Nursery Rhyme, and Various Children's Stories Town, but I guess they couldn't fit that on the sign; in any case, it's a totally adorable park for kids up to age 5 or 6. There are no rides, but lots of stuff to climb up, slide down, and play on, and plenty of shade for parents while they watch.

Here's Ellie chasing a chicken. She was having a blast, but somehow this photo makes her look like an assassin, which I find hilarious. "CHICKENS, PREPARE TO DIE!!"



All aboard!


The girls loved sliding down the giant "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" slide, and walking the "Crooked Mile," a winding sidewalk that's almost like a little corn maze. They played in King Arthur's Castle, saw the Three Little Pigs (real pot bellied pigs outside houses made of brick, straw, and sticks), and climbed inside Cinderella's carriage, all of which only took a couple of hours--if we lived nearby, we'd totally get an annual pass and bring them there often!

Across the street at the zoo, there was more fun to be had:



And ice cream to be had, too:


"Is there a face de-chocolatization center around here?"


Poor Ellie was exhausted afterward and fell asleep on the way home. She barely moved a muscle when we carried her in, and took a long nap in the cozy guest room my parents decorated just for us:


Wednesday: Driving Back

Having played it pretty smart to this point, Bear and I made the mistake of getting us off to a slow start back home. We went out to breakfast with my parents, which was great, but then we stopped for gas...and then for Starbucks (*ahem* Bear...at least my reality TV addiction didn't cost us any time on the road!)...and then so Keira could go potty...and a couple of hours into the drive, we'd only gone 100 miles. This is a bad way to start out, because as they day went on, we all got increasingly sick of being in the car--especially Ellie, who forgets her zillion-word vocabulary and speaks only in fuss and shrieks when she's had enough. After stopping for lunch and then twice more because Ellie was getting cranky, we didn't end up getting home until 8:30pm, but it still wasn't too bad.

When we drove up to the house, I said, "Yay, we're home!" and Keira frowned, "Well, I am not excited to be home!" and stomped into the house. She cried like her little heart was breaking at bedtime, and slept with her zoo train ticket under her pillow that night. Poor girl--she still hasn't stopped talking about how much fun she had on our San Diego trip, and if she had her way, we'd be taking vacations every week!

For a pretty cheap trip (thanks to a complimentary stay at the Mom n' Pop Hotel) to a relatively small town, we sure found plenty of stuff to do, and had a great time! Next time, we'd like to hit up some wineries, go to that Sacramento diner featured on "Man v. Food," and/or visit Yosemite, but we're totally happy with the way this trip turned out. Thanks, Mom and Dad!