A Test Run

Next month Barry has a week of work that will be longer and harder than any of his usual shifts. He will work 3 long days and then 3 long nights. I'd rather not even be here with the kids that week, but none of my family or close friends live with-in close driving distance. So I either have a 8+ hour drive by myself, or a couple plane rides. Neither is appealing with the 3 kids, but I'm also just anxious to travel somewhere. I've been couped up in this town for 4 months now, and that's very unusual for me. I really want to go visit my sister in Boston that week.

Barry's worried that a plane ride with the 3 kids will be so rough that I'll regret doing it. I think a long drive would be even worse. My biggest challenges with the 3 little ones are parking lots and public restrooms. At least in the airports they are usually bigger and clean, and you don't have to cross a parking lot to get there. So.....

I realized that if I really want to do this I need to prove myself first by taking the 3 of them somewhere other than just to the church building and friend's houses. So off we went today on a short road trip (Barry was sleeping for night-shift anyway).

We got a late start because Kellyn slept from 9 pm to 9 am straight. So by the time I fed her, dressed her, and got everything loaded it was a little after 10 am. We drove an hour and 40 minutes to the Target in Odessa, TX. Everyone traveled wonderfully. Kellyn didn't start crying until 10 minutes away when she decided she was too hungry to wait any longer. I gave her a bottle as I wheeled in the cart across the parking lot.

The main goal was to buy coats and backpacks for Ryan and Alyna and look at or purchase some other small items. It's such a warm season here, that they didn't have many actual coats out. I found one I think will work for Alyna that is a fuzzy pale pink and lined with fake fur. I didn't find one for Ryan. I'll have to visit a couple local stores in the next week or two to find one for Ryan. Since we aren't out in the early morning or late evening it's not an urgent matter.

Alyna picked the Tinkerbell backpack and sippy cup over Disney Princess. Ryan got a Toy Story backpack because there weren't any Cars motifs available, but did get a Cars sippy cup. We don't use sippy cups a lot except when we go places, but the ones we have are leaking. We found the backpacks in the luggage section where they discovered the rolling backpacks. Ryan was instantly zooming around with Lightning McQueen from Cars, and Alyna took the Disney Princesses (in the absence of Tinkerbell) for a stroll. I let them take them along to the next few stops. We filled the cart with a couple long sleeve shirts for each of the 3, and next-size-up shoes for the twins.

We went back to the toy section to look at the tricycles. There was only one without security bindings on it that they could sit on, so I had to supervise them taking turns. (This was a test to see if it would make a good Christmas present... and I think it passed.) When it was time to put it back on the shelf, Ryan was reluctant to dismount.

When I turned around from putting him back inside the cart, Alyna was gone. I walked to the end of the aisle and looked around but she was nowhere in sight. I turned to a couple other moms with kids and carts and asked if they saw a 2 year old girl pulling a suitcase. I started calling her name and walking toward the baby section across the path. After a very long minute (or so), one of the other moms called out that she saw her. Alyna was right back on the aisle with the tricycles. She must have gone down and back around one of the next aisles to find me again. It was a very scary moment for me.

After a bathroom stop where Alyna actually used the potty, and checking out at the register, we went to Chick-fil-a. We stayed there for over an hour because it had a great play-place. I fed Kellyn her 2nd bottle right before we left.

I also realized that Ryan has developed a fear of public restrooms. I had to pick him up and carry him in both times. I think it's because he hates the hand dryers. The one in the Target restroom was used 3-4 times while we were in there and he screamed his head off. One of the workers said she'd wait and use the towels in the staff room so he wouldn't cry again. The Chick-fil-a bathroom didn't even have a dryer and he screamed and tried to crawl under the stall door several times. I hope he gets over that soon.

All the kids napped on the drive home, and once again Kellyn started crying about 10 minutes away. I guess that's here limit.

So I made it. It's not quite like an airport and long plane ride would be, but at least it didn't discourage me from it. Now we have to decide about the plane... hmmmmm