A few months ago my mom and I had the crazy idea in our head to drive down to California for a big family get together. My grandpa's birthday is Dec 10th so we wanted to surprise him as an early birthday present. We made the plans and kept everything from my grandpa. We sure didn't know what to expect but we were so excited!
We kept Thanksgiving Day simple and relaxing because we were leaving that evening for our 15 + hour drive through the night. After eating our turkey and pumpkin pie we sat around getting anxious. Just sitting around was really hard so we decided to jump in the car and head down at about 5:45 pm. Bad idea...we hit traffic down in the Salem area that probably put us back about an hour right at the start. Brendan was bouncing off the car walls he was so excited (he had no idea what was going on but he was excited) and Carter was getting quite bored of sitting in his carseat. After a quick stop to feed Carter and get his wiggles out, the boys both fell asleep and it seemed that we were looking at a quick and quiet trip. This peacefulness only lasted about few hours. Then the "fun" begins....
"mommy....mommy....." (Brendan) "Brendan, go back to sleep we're still driving." (me) "MOMMY....MOMMY...." (Brendan) "Brendan, you need to go back to sleep...." (my mom) " MOMMMY!! BLEHHHH" (Brendan) "WAHHHH...AHHHHHH" (Brendan and Carter)
This was pretty much the trip for the next couple hours. Brendan's motion sickness kicked into full gear as we hit southern Oregon and the mountains. He has had some bouts of car sickness a few times in his life but I never expected what was to come. The poor guy threw up every 10-15 minutes for the next 2 hours. Every time we'd pull over, I'd get out some new clothes (yay for extra packing!) and blankets, and we'd start over. The process really upset Carter though because we kept having to turn on the overhead light. So, on top of all the problems with Brendan, Carter was just not a happy guy. Eventually they both got so worn out they finally fell asleep. Many times my mom and I talked about turning around and just heading home but I figured Brendan would just throw up on the way home to so we kept going.
We tried to make up our time but ending up arriving at our destination after 18 hours of driving. The look on my grandpa's face when we walked in the door and I handed him Carter was priceless. It made the trip SO worth every minute. I held back tears as I gave him and my grandma big hugs. The rest of the weekend was full of family, food, and fun. I was SOOOO tired but I tried so hard to enjoy myself. The boys had a great time, they slept great Friday night, and enjoyed all the attention.
Helping Grandpa open some presents
Grandpa and Carter
We were sad to jump back in the car Saturday night and head back on the road. After the traumatic trip down we had no idea what to expect on the way home. Praise the Lord it was a close to perfect trip back home. Both boys fell asleep right way and slept almost the whole way home!! We suspect someone slipped Carter something (LOL...just kidding) because even when he did wake up he was such a happy dude! Brendan threw up only once but was either awake and happy or sleeping the rest of the way home. We made it home in 15 hours!! woohooo!!
I really hope that some family members will send me some pictures. I was either too tired or busy with the boys to get pictures and I'm sad about that. If I get some in the future I will post them!!
No comments:
Post a Comment