Part 1 The Road Trip

We just returned from a trip to Disneyland and Newport beach. I have waaaay too many pictures to condense it all into one post. So I am going to break it into three parts--the road trip, Disneyland and the beach.

Part 1 The Road Trip

I like a good road trip. I have posted my tips for road tripping in the past. We are kind of trashy on the road.

We let the kids take their shirts off:



We make really lame jokes about the "T&A" rest stop:



We let the kids watch movies the whole way (Zombie Ryan):



and I drink Diet Coke like it is going out of style.

We always stop in St. George and let the kids play at the park for about an hour. Buster loves the swings:



Sam wore compression stockings under his shorts to keep his knee from swelling up on the road. He had absolutely no shame in wearing them into gas stations, restaurants and the hotel. Notice the sheen on these babies:


I bought my kids these little suitcases before we left at DownEast Home. They have other kids' names embroidered on them but my kids didn't care. I had considered buying these same ones at PBK for 119 bucks each before I found them at DownEast for 29 bucks each. For that deal, I can live with calling the kids "Oliver and Meredith."



At the hotel we let Buster pull every tissue out of the box because he had no other toys and we were desperate:



The highlight of the trip down was eating the best breakfast of my life on Mother's Day at the hotel. I know you will think I am exaggerating but the complimentary breakfast at the Courtyard Marriott South in Vegas is second to none. I am talking made to order omelets, fresh fruit, muffins, french toast, eggs, hot chocolate with cream...basically anything you can think of for breakfast...they have it. Here is my delicious omelet:



The breakfast was all I got for Mother's Day and I was a happy lady.



Stay tuned for Disneyland.

Weekend Roadie

This last weekend, Sam and I took the kids on a little road trip to St. George. If you have read my other road trip post, you know how we roll.

Highlights (or really low lights):

Eating a greasy lunch at Larry's Drive-in in Fillmore, UT (Known to our family as Scary Larry's)


Stopping at the Chevron (with the Dairy Queen and the big white chair out in front) in Beaver because they have the best bathrooms according to Sam. He will deny this but he actually told me he thinks they have nice tile work.



Enjoying everything the hotel has to offer; Namely, jumping on the beds, watching tons of tv and abusing the complimentary breakfast--have you ever seen how much my kids eat?



Watching my kids fight over who gets to push the button in the elevator every. single. time. we got in.



Finding this outside the room next to ours (those are rose petals) Apparently someone was having a more romantic trip than we were.



Praying that my kids didn't wake them up at the crack of dawn.

Seeing this car in the parking lot--explains the rose petals! You gotta love the spelling on "married."



Taking our kids to run in their first race:



Having Sammie chicken out moments before the race and refuse to run.

Enjoying this huge indoor swimming pool at the local rec center.



Dressing Buster is the world's largest swim trunks and the world's tiniest top (I was short on time with packing and had to grab whatever I could find!)



Seeing this couple taking a snooze and wishing I could do the same.



Eating dinner at a Mexican "restaurant" that was literally inside a gas station. Sam read that they had great food so we tried it. Food was relatively good--Sam loved his steak torta--but the atmosphere left something to be desired. Why didn't I get any pictures!! Of course, Ryan spilled his drink all over the floor so we had to make a quick get-away.

Letting Ryan take his wet shirt off and just wear an open jacket with no shirt underneath the rest of the evening. I think we really impressed the workers in the Polo outlet.

Packing the car to the gills on Sunday morning and driving home. Look how happy everyone looks.


Don't say we aren't classy.

10 Rules for a Successful Road Trip with Kids

I want to apologize for leaving you with the Bachelorette post for 6 straight days. We just returned from a short road trip to Sun Valley, Idaho. We had a great time and that post is coming but for now, I want to lay down my law for road trips with kids.

1. Pack the car to the gills. You are driving, not flying, so you don't have weight restrictions. Milk it. We had so much shiz this time that we borrowed my in-laws car just to make it all fit. We are talking 5 bikes, a jogging stroller, a regular stroller, a bike trailer, all of our luggage, a pack-in-play, inflatable pool toys (fully inflated) and a partridge in a pear tree. It just so happened that our condo was on the third floor. The husband loved hauling it all up two flights of stairs!


2. Bring a bag of good hooch (non-messy, non-chocolate hooch) and a cooler of drinks. You will be stopping at gas stations along the way to get your fountain diet coke and more hooch but these are your staples.


3. Feed said hooch to fat baby in the back for five hours straight to keep him quiet.


4. Buy DVD system for your vehicle. This is non-negotiable. If you didn't have these rules when you were at the dealership--do not despair. The after-market DVD system is even nicer and larger than one that comes with the car.

5. Put your feet on the dash and admire your pedicure. Crank the tunes and make your kids wear headphones for the DVD in the back.


6. Listen to your husband's best rendition of Kenny Roger's "The Gambler."




7. Pull off to the side of the highway when your 4 year old won't stop crying. Pull her out of the car and threaten to leave her there just like your mom did when you were that age.

8. Don't forget to put her back in the car. When any child falls asleep, put the pedal to the metal and drive like the wind. Don't stop for any reason. This is sacred time.


9. Eat at McDonald's for every meal. Justify the large shake because you are on a roadie. Let your kids play in the play land for 1/2 hour. Pray they don't get AIDS.


10. When you see your friends ahead of you on the highway, yell to your 6 yr old to jump into the front seat and prepare to do a "pressed ham" in the window as you pass your friends. I'm just making this up. Who would really do this? Seriously. Expect your 6 yr old to talk about the incident the rest of the trip.


What are your rules for road-tripping with children?