We took a trip to Manitoba a few weeks back...and what a disaster the trip was! I had always said I would never use a DVD player to keep my kids content on a long trip...but I definitely changed my mind after this trip! You parents that have kids that fall asleep the instant the vehicle starts moving...you are extremely blessed. Both our kids are not sleepers, which makes traveling painful and slow. On an 8 hour trip we are lucky if Benjamin sleeps 15 minutes...Levi maybe an hour. Which means that there is a lot of screaming coming from the back of the van. So...I gave in and we bought a DVD player for our trip back from Manitoba...and what a sanity saver it has been!!
We just got back from a trip to Calgary, primarily to take Benjamin to the zoo...he's been very intrigued with animals lately...so we thought a little vacation would be nice...haha...vacation. The DVD player did help, but Benjamin did not sleep a wink the entire trip...and by the time we got there, all he wanted to do was run around...all we wanted to do was sit down for a nice relaxing supper. "Relaxing" just isn't a word that goes with eating in restaurants these days. Benjamin doesn't want to sit, let alone eat...and Levi's at the grabby stage so nothing on the table stays on the table and he too just doesn't want to sit. So our nice relaxing meal, turned into taking the food to go and eating in the hotel room. Thankfully we got a suite hotel room...I don't know if there is any other way. There is no way we would be able to keep our boys asleep if we were in the same room...I think we'd have to hang out in the bathroom until we were ready to sleep!
The only thing is that the moment Levi wakes up in the morning...which as clockwork is a few minutes after 6am...Ben wakes up too. And Ben is not a graceful waker-upper...and when he's woken up 2 hours earlier than normal, the whining is 10-fold it seems. But we survived, and made it out the door plenty early to get to the zoo.
And it made it worth the trip...I think. Ben loved the animals, but if they didn't move he wouldn't notice them. We'd point and point and he just wouldn't follow what we were trying to get him to see. Half the time he was more enthralled with the fences and gates and all the people around him. But it was so great to see him enjoying himself. And Levi just took it in, and had a little nap.
We all attempted to have a nap in the afternoon...but as usual Levi's late morning nap wrecked our chance to nap in the afternoon and he kept Ben from napping properly. I've determined that sleep and vacation are just not words that go together! In the evening Ben got to hang out with his second-cousin and we had a nice visit with my cousin and her husband.
By bedtime we were wasted and so incredible happy to put the boys to bed! And as usual were awakened by our 6am alarm...Levi. And started another day of glorious traveling. By the last hour of driving both boys were so tired, they were both screaming in the back, preventing the other from sleeping. And Brad and I were blaring the radio from the front trying to drown them out. We made it home and the boys were happy as could be...free to roam free.
And today we reminisce with fond memories. Even though road trips are definitely not what they used to be...they bring so many memories that we will cherish forever.
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