"You are so brave," mommies whisper into my ear when I tell them of our 7000 mile roadtrip with four small children.
Truly, it makes me laugh. Brave has nothing to do with it; a strong desire to see my family and friends is what drives me, literally, down the road.
But what is it like roadtriping with four small children? The following is a mostly true description of a typical day on the road with the Keys family.
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5:30am Samuel awakens with the sun. His sweet gurgles and coos awaken my daughters who are quick to run to our bed and play with their baby brother.
6:00am Begin packing the van. Sleeping bags rolled up; suitcases reorganized; dirty clothes into the dirty clothes bag; drink cups filled; everything out the door and to the van. We fit the items into the van like a jig-saw puzzle.
7:00am Breakfast. Either the hotel's contental breakfast, one more breakfast with those who love us or fast food.
7:30am Buckle up seat belts, re check the map and off we go!
7:35am "Can we watch a movie?" Almost-five-year-old Isaiah asks. Ice Age plays behind my head for the tenth time in one week.
8:30am Driven 70 miles. Only 400 left to go for the day. I sip my lukewarm coffee. Samuel drifts to sleep in the middle row of our minivan.
8:45am "MOM! She's hitting me!" "Shh!! Sam's sleeping!!"
9:00am "I'm hungry!" Crackers distributed by Daddy who is taking his turn in the back with the kids. I nibble on my handful of animal crackers.
9:30am "Look at the mountains!" Sam is startled awake thanks to the excitement of his siblings.
10:00am "Look at the cows!"
10:15am "Look at that train!" The train loops around a mountain side. Very cool.
11:00am The family stops for lunch at a rest area. The kids run like a herd of cattle across the grassy lawn. Sandwiches fill our stomachs and we're back in the van within an hour. We are also quite proud that we made it a full three and half hours between stops. No small feat with little, wiggly children.
12:00pm Jason's turn to drive. I take my place in the back, praying God gives me grace with my children.
12:30pm "Naptime! Everyone lean back and close your eyes."
12:40pm Samuel's out.
12:45pm "I don't want to go to bed" "I'm not tired" SH! Sam's sleeping! Go to sleep!"
1:00pm "I'm not tired!" Tears roll down their very "none-tired" faces. Samuel wiggles in his sleep and I feel myself loosing it as I struggle to keep one little eight month old asleep while disciplining the three and two year old.
1:30pm After an hour of frustration, there are FOUR sleeping children in the mini-van. Mom and Dad's eyes meet through the rear view mirror. We smile. I lean my head back to catch a few zzzz's while Jason plows ahead on the Interstate. Stopping is not an option with four sleeping kids.
2:00pm Samuel wakes up. I try to not be frustrated from my short nap. Sam and I play peek a boo.
2:30pm Everyone's awake. The kids don't sleep very well in the carseats. Short naps have become the norm on the road.
3:00pm Gas stop. Fill up for $2.59 per gallon. That's been our average. Everyone goes potty. This seems to take an absurd amount of time. Samuel gets a diaper change and I try to hold him the whole stop so he can soak up mommy time since he doesn't get much on the road.
3:45pm Finally, back on the road. I have a piping hot cup of coffee that will keep my eyes open for the last 2-3 hours of our drive for the day. Jason turns a movie on and passes out another round of snacks.
4:30pm The DVD Players have lost their magic for the day and everyone is ready to get out of the van. Including the adults. From the rear view mirror I see Jason lean his head back and close his eyes. Isaiah and Rose are fighting about crayons in the back-back; Samuel is screaming his protest of being strapped to his carseat for the entire day; and Lela Mae [strapped beside me in the front seat -air bag is turned off-] is applying chapstick over and over again to her adorable lips.
5:30pm Our stopping point is just a few miles ahead. We pull out all the stops to illicit peace in the chaotic van. Cheetos are passed out. Mommy sings her silly songs "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts... dee-da-la-dee-da-lee..."
5:45pm We stumble into the KOA kabin and stretch across our bare mattresses. The kids beg to go swimming. Jason and I look longingly at the bed as we dress everyone in their still damp suits before heading off to swim in the KOA pool.
***
So this is a simple outline of our day on the road. Most of our days end earlier, praise God. But, this is a long form of our travel days. We have intentionally tried to schedule the days to be short so the kids don't loose it in the back.
Well, now you know. Have a great day!
