Family Road Trip Itinerary

Yesterday we went on a family road trip to get our new puppy in Lander, Wyoming.  Theoretically it is a 5.5 hr. trip each way.

4:45 - Wake up.  Rush around like crazy trying to get everyone ready, locate missing shoes and dress children in other children's clothing because we can't find theirs.

5:20 - Start loading kids into the car.  Discover that Jane is bleeding profusely from the forehead.  Get towels and bandaids, clean her up and find a small cut on her forehead that nobody knows where it came from.

5:32 - Josh grumbles that we are 32 minutes behind schedule.  Silly Daddy.

5:40 - Starbucks.  Remember that we forgot to have the big kids go to the bathroom before leaving the house and take them all in.

6:00 - 9:00 - Driving

9-ish - Sebastian and Alexandra desperately need to go pee.  There is no rest stop for miles.  Pull off the road.  Try to help Alexandra position herself so as not to pee on herself.  Discover that no amount of positioning will help if the pee just dribbles down her leg.  Put Alexandra's wet pants into a plastic bag, wrap her up in a blanket and hit the road again.

10-ish - Dominic starts screaming that he wet his pants.  Parents are confused since he has a fresh diaper on.  Mom risks her life to check it out and discovers that he has indeed wet his pants.  Throw his pants into plastic bag with the others, give him a fresh diaper and start rethinking our picnic plans since we now have 2 pantsless children.  Alexandra needs to pee again.  Give her a diaper.

12:30 - Puppy time!  He is soooo cute!  The kids all love him and fight to hold him and brush him.

1:00 - 2:00 - Picnic on a blanket in the car to accommodate pantsless children.

2:00 - Embark on completely unintentional side trip in the wrong direction that adds an extra 80 or so miles to our trip.

3:30 - Back in Lander, hooray!  Start heading home.  Make many stops to try to get puppy to go to the bathroom, nurse Jane, change diapers, etc.  Decide to name the puppy Bear.  Sebastian has a melt down because he had his heart set on Dexter. 

6:00 - 7:00 -  Rest stop.  Carry Alexandra inside wrapped in a blanket because I don't really want her using a diaper.  Kids go to the bathroom.  Diapers get changed.  Jane gets nursed.  Puppy gets walked.  Josh takes a short nap.

8:30 - Arrive in Fort Collins and go on a Starbucks hunt.  Lament the stupid town that has no Starbucks.  Call 1411 and find out that Fort Collins has multiple Starbucks, and apparently *we* are the problem.

9:02 - Find a Starbucks.  Rejoice!  Find out they closed at 9:00.  The opposite of rejoicing.

9:30 - Buy bottled frappuchinos from the gas station and get back on the road.  Sebastian decides he can live with the name Bear. Mom allows him to monopolize the puppy for the rest of the drive because she is so relieved that the name will not prevent Sebastian from ever bonding with Bear.  Other children complain about the unfairness.

11:00 - Home again, hooray!

*Note - Obviously, the pictures weren't taken in the car.