You may have been wondering where we’ve been lately, and I promise, I have a great explanation. The babies and I decided on a whim last week to make a trip to see my family while Derrick was out of state on a guys trip. Five days of wrestling babies by myself did not seem like such a great idea to me, so I was so excited when my mom invited us to stay with her while he was gone. It never occurred to me that just the three of us could make the trip to see my family, and I’m glad that it all worked out. But, it wasn’t without some major planning!

Anyone who has traveled with children, especially a baby, knows that it can be quite unpleasant. Derrick and I have made three trips now with Corbin and Lynley, and we made it was ok, but not without lots of sing songing and entertaining on my part while Daddy drove. It’s exhausting! How was I supposed to drive and keep the babies occupied at the same time? Answer: leave at bedtime, and let them sleep the whole way.

“Hi Nanner! I see you.” Or maybe he sees himself in the window? Ha

That is exactly what we did, and it was magnificent! I heard not a peep the entire 4.5-hour drive there or back home. Both babies did wake up when we arrived at my mom’s and when we got back to our house, but they fell back to sleep on their own within about 30 minutes to an hour of playing/babbling to themselves in their cribs. I couldn’t believe it! We explained to them where they were, rocked them a bit, and put them down to sleep. They slept soundly and woke up at their normal time in the morning. This is definitely the way to travel, and it’s how we’ll be doing it from now on.

Lynley loved crawling in and out of the box and playing hide n seek!

You might be wondering what I did with the babies when I needed to stop for gas or a bathroom break. I had a full tank and made it to my destination with 12 miles to spare, and I didn’t stop to use the bathroom.  If you go before you leave and don’t drink much, you can make it the four hours! But, if you really can’t hold it and don’t like the thought of dragging your sleeping babies into a public restroom in the middle of the night, I have a secret trick. You’ll have to message me to find out!

Corbin admires himself in the mirror at Baby Gap. Yes, we bought the hat!

We all enjoyed the trip so much, and my mom snapped some wonderful pictures of Corbin and Lynley. The babies went on a shopping spree with me and Nanner; met one of my mom’s co-workers and visited with their Gramps, Nini, great granny and great uncle. Both Lynley and Corbin loved pulling on Uncle Glen’s long beard! They also met a very close family friend, who is like a brother to me, and Corbin couldn’t get enough of him. We look forward to the next trip home, and next time, my brother and his family will be their too! (He’s stationed in the Army on the complete opposite side of Texas and returning home soon.) Counting down the days…