Diary of a Road Trip

The family spent this weekend in Indiana visiting Travis's dad and stepmom. We had a fabulous time while we were out there. Getting there and back was another story. This is my log of our trip out. The trip back was strikingly similar.

8:00am        Planned departure time
8:45am        Actual departure time
9:30am        Cash needs to poop – stop at gas station
9:35am        Cash too scared to poop on gas station toilet without potty ring
9:36am        Bribe Cash with opportunity to pick out candy if he poops
9:37am        Bribe works! Cash picks out Twizzler Nibs
9:40am        Divide Nibs up between Cash and West
9:50am        West vomits up Nibs, pull over to the side of the road and swab him down with baby wipes
10:00am      CONSTANT WHINING from the backseat, West asks every 5 minutes where Mamaw and Granddad's house is
11:00am       CONSTANT WHINING continues
11:30am      CONSTANT WHINING continues, stop at Best Buy in Columbia and buy dual screen DVD player for the backseat and three movies
11:50am       Ah, the sweet sound of NO WHINING
1:30pm        Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack in St. Peters. Boys play on the play area while we eat. One of the most peaceful meals ever.
5:21pm        Cash watches Jungle Book. West is bored with Jungle Book and spontaneously counts to ten (he has only counted to three up to this point)
6:04pm        West still bored with Jungle Book. He picks fight with Cash over the color of their IMAGINARY monster trucks.
8:00pm        Eat dinner from McDonald's in car.
9:00pm        FINALLY arrive at Travis's parents' house. THANK.GOD.

Politically Incorrect

Cash saw this box in the garage today…


…and asked me, "What's in the box that has the guy dressed up like a turkey on it?"

Chaos Suspended

Cash "reading" a story to West – so freakin' cute.

Carrot Bread Part II

Thank you HeatherAnne and John for the carrot bread recipes! Cash and I made John's recipe yesterday because I had all the ingredients on hand. You can find the recipe in the comments from yesterday's post. It was delicious. HeatherAnne's recipe looked yummy too, but it called for applesauce which I didn't have. We'll make that next time.


Cash loved the carrot bread so much he was double-fisting it.


West likes to shove so much food in his mouth at one time that he has to hold the food in with his hand.


Daddy liked the carrot bread too! You may be wondering why the boys are in their PJs in the middle of the afternoon. Or maybe you're not, but I'm going to explain why anyway. West takes his nap in his PJs due to his compulsion to strip down naked and poop in his crib when he sleeps in street clothes. And since West wears PJs for his nap, Cash has to wear them for his also of course. A lot of times they don't want to change back into their regular clothes after naps. So there – we don't lounge around in our PJs ALL day.

Carrot Bread

Cash asked me if I'd make carrot bread for him today. I told him I'd have to look up a recipe since I'd never made it (or heard of it) before. He told me that the recipe was simple: two fortune cookies, two cups of syrup and of course, carrots. Yum. If anyone out there HAS heard of carrot bread and has a recipe, I'd love to see it.

Cash’s First Day of School

Today was Cash's first day of school. He has a new teacher and a new classroom for the first time in two years. He was not at all happy about that at Back To School night so I was worried about how he'd do today. When we got to the classroom this morning, the teacher had worksheets out for the kids to work on. Cash got settled in his chair and I asked his teacher if she could show him how to hold the pencil the correct way. (I'm a lefty and he's a righty so it's hard for me to show him.) After the teacher came over and started to show him, Cash turned to me and Travis and said, "You get out." The teacher smiled and said it was the ultimate compliment to her that Cash was kicking us out of the classroom. I'm glad he was comfortable, but a little less attitude would be nice. Oh well, baby steps.

West’s First Day of School

West had his first day of preschool this morning. He'll go on Tuesdays and Thursdays this year and Cash will go on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. West was so excited about his first day of school that he was literally bouncing off the walls last night and this morning. He would run into the kitchen wall, squeal and then run into the opposite kitchen wall, squeal and repeat. Over and over. It was toddler pinball and he was the ball. When we dropped him off he wouldn't even stop to pose for a picture with his teacher; he just shooed us away and started playing. When Cash and I picked him up at noon, I told him it was time to go home and he said, "No! Two more minutes!" I'm glad he had fun – my little independent boy.

First Camp-out

Last night Travis took the boys on their first camp-out – all the way in the backyard. He wanted to do a trial run close to home before taking them to a campsite where coming home would be harder than just walking up the stairs to the deck. The afternoon started with a scavenger hunt that Travis made for the boys to find their gear.


One of the things they found was their new windup flashlights:


After the scavenger hunt, Daddy pitched the tent. Then it was time to cook hot dogs over the "campfire".


After hot dogs – S'MORES!

The boys couldn't wait for the sun to go down so they could use their new flashlights.

Then it was bedtime. Mommy kissed the boys goodnight…


And went back in the house to go to sleep! You didn't think I stayed out there and slept in the tent did you? And judging by how much whining Travis did today about how much his back hurt from sleeping on the ground, I made the right decision. I stayed inside and fielded phone calls from the tent. "We need Elmo; Cash is coming in to go potty; we need more pillows; etc; etc." All in all, it was a successful camp-out – the boys stayed out in the tent all night, although how much sleep they got is questionable. They were a little tired this morning:

It’s All About Perspective

West put one of his wooden blocks in his mouth this morning so I said, "West, take that out of your mouth or…," and I was about to say, "Or I'll put it away," when Cash said, "Or we'll tape your mouth shut!" Now that's thinking outside of the box sweetie.

The Birds and the Bees

Cash told me tonight that he wanted to get back in my tummy and grow a little bit more. I told him that is not allowed – once you're out, you're out. He asked me if the doctor pulled him out of my tummy. I said he did (I had a C-section). "I wanted to get out by myself," he whined. Kid, you don't get a choice about some things.