Can I first just say how much fun we had? Seriously. The kids were in heaven and so was I! They always had something to entertain them and I actually had an adult around to talk to.
I was most nervous about the driving part. The idea of just me and the kids in the car for 7 hours made me nauseous! Marcie lent us her portable DVD player, and I'm sure that it was what saved the drive for me.
Sidestory: As we were preparing for our trip I explained to the kids that they have horses, pigs, a cat, and dogs. That they had lots of room to run around because they didn't have close neighbors like we do. Well, I turned onto Redwood Road to hook up with the I-15. After you pass Wal-mart there aren't a lot of homes or buildings, so Mara yells: "mommy! I see the farm! We are here!!" Ummm....we had been driving for 5 minutes. I explained to her again that this was going to be a very long drive to which she replied: "I know mom, and we are here!" I then told her that this drive would take us the entire day. I could tell that by the look in her eyes she didn't get it. I then said that she could watch Tangled, Cars, Monsters Inc, and Ratatouille before we got there. That's when it finally sunk in for her. Her eyes fell, and she settled in for the long haul. It was
hilarious! Still each time we passed a horse or cow (which was literally every couple minutes) Mara would yell that she could see the farm. No, they do not live on a farm, but she started calling it "the farm" then, and still refers to it as such.
50 miles outside of Burley (which is about half way) my tire pressure light comes on. It isn't just on, but it's blinking at me like it was screaming: emergency! Emergency! Not gonna lie, my heart fell as I realized I don't know how to change a tire nor would I like to experience a flat while driving 90mph. So I slowed down and pulled to the shoulder and reached for my cell praying that I would have reception. Instead of finding my phone, my hand landed in a puddle of water. Wait, what? Water? Oh no....where is my phone?!? Then I found it. Completely submerged. Before I even looked at it, I closed my eyes (don't worry I was already on the shoulder and stopped) and said a quick prayer. "Please let my phone work, I might have a nervous breakdown if it doesn't." I then dried it off and dialed Sean who was asleep since he got home from work a few hours before we left. He told me to go the speed limit (sigh, that meant it'd take forever!!!) and once I got to Burley to find a tire shop and have them look at it. I got off the phone and we started driving again. I realized that my Dad might know a tire shop in Burley so I gave him a call. He couldn't think of anything, but told me how to get to the "main" street where one would most likely be.
My plan had been to get to Burley and take the kids to McDonald's and let them run around in a playplace for a bit before we had to get in the car again.
The last 50 miles to Burley felt like an
eternity. My knuckles were white, and the entire time I prayed that we would be okay. Looking back now I feel like a major drama queen...but in the moment I was seriously terrified.
We pulled in and low and behold I see a huge sign: Tire and Lube. Good old trusty Wal-Mart. Love 'em, hate 'em...but they will always be there! I pulled in and rolled down my window. The guy came over and I explained that we were 1/2 way through our road trip and the tire pressure light flipped on and not only have no idea how to check the tire pressure, but I also don't know if that's even something he can help me with.
He was very nice and got a mechanic to come over. As the next man was walking to the car my prayers changed from "please let them be able to help us", to: "please distract Mara. Don't let her comment on his tattoos and earrings." This man was also very nice and checked the pressure in all 4 tires and they were just fine! He said that the sensor probably just wigged out on the bumpy roads. Deep sigh of relief! I thanked them both, and when I asked what I needed to pay them they said not to worry about it. I rolled up the window and drove away.
As soon as the window was up, Mara exclaimed: "Mom, did you see that boy? He had girl earrings! And her colored all over himself! What a silly pants guy." Phew. SO glad she kept it to herself until then. She is the modesty/gender roles police. If she sees a man with a ponytail and/or earrings, or anyone that is scandalously dressed she lets everyone around her know.
Sidestory: I have tried so many times to tell her that it isn't appropriate to judge others just because of the way they look but that wasn't working. One day as I was talking to her for probably the 1,987th time about it I explained that everyone is different. Maybe their mom didn't teach them that it was bad. While Heavenly Father wants us to take care of our bodies, He would not be happy if he saw us being unkind to anyone just because they look different than we do. She didn't think she was being unkind, she was just saying what she saw. I told her that her words could hurt a persons feelings regardless of whether or not they are true. I think that is finally when it started clicking that she needed to start filtering her words. I told her that she could say anything to me, but that she needed to love everyone and do her very best to make everyone feel special. Since that day she has been much better about that, and she also tells me how beautiful I look at least 4 times a day. She is a sweetie.
The detour to Burley added an hour and a half to our trip. We walked into McDonald's and there were signs everywhere: no shoes allowed in the playplace and child must be wearing socks. Crap. The kids both had sandals and I didn't even know where to begin looking for socks in our luggage...I ordered them some happy meals and we sat down to eat. I was trying to figure out how to get them out of there without them throwing fits. I couldn't carry both of them in the midst of a fit...and a fit it would be. After they finished eating I said we needed to get something from the car. I felt bad being deceptive, but I couldn't handle 2 tantrums at once in a public place as I hauled them from it. When we got to the car I told them why we couldn't play. I held my breath. They both said okay and climbed into their seats. Wow. It was awesome!
The last 1/2 of the trip felt the longest, but the kids were great and while in McDonald's I used their free wifi to download some music onto my kindle. I put one earphone in and listened to some music instead of the current movie. It was nice.
We made a stop in Meridian to see some family, and then headed to the Stanger's. We finally made it! My cell phone was acting silly and continued to for the entire trip. None of the buttons worked, but I could place a call using the touch screen. Tender mercy for sure.
Here are a few pictures of the first day of our trip. I think Stacie and I took like 900 pictures while we were there....
You'd think that 2 weeks was long enough, but it felt way too short. The only way we could bare to leave was to make plans for another trip! The end of June we'll be back again. This time Sean will get to come with us and it will only be for one week, but I'll take what I can get! I decided to separate the trip into several posts, so this is only the first of many!
