Momma's first solo road trip (aka Operation: Surprise Papa!)

**This post is a little late, but because it was my first solo road trip with the babies (& because it was a fun trip overall) I wanted to document it**

Because my dad has been working in Washington DC the past few months, we've missed out on seeing my parents as often as we have in the past. The 5hr drive to/from Dallas is rough for my mom and I wasn't ready to attempt it with the babies on my own (it's also tough to do a quick weekend trip with everything we have to bring & difficult for Kris to take off frequently from work).  Even if I worked around the babies' schedule, we'd still have to stop for a feeding & diaper change so I always needed extra hands for it to go as smoothly as possible. In the past if Kris couldn't go with me, I had my dad or best friend from high school join me (they were SO generous as to fly into town, wait at the airport until I could pick them up, drive to Dallas with me, then on our way back to Houston, I'd drop them off at the airport again). 

arriving in Dallas with Trisha who came all the way from Florida just to drive with me when the babies were 3 months old!

 During those trips, we'd either stop, pull out each baby and feed/burp them individually or I'd crawl in the back while someone else drove and feed them (I know, I know... but those feeds felt like they took FOREVER and I just wanted to keep driving to make good time! Plus that only happened once, I promise!) :)

Brandon feeding in the bumbo between seats during a pit stop

This most recent trip was extremely important for me though because it was going to be a surprise for my Dad's birthday.  He was flying in late Thursday night so my goal was to drive up that day and surprise him as he walked through the door. I planned to leave after lunch so the babies could take their long nap (at this point they were still taking 2 naps/day - about one hour in the morning, two hours in the afternoon) and only need a short snack during the drive.  Previously we've tried taking them first thing in the morning, after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner, and at bedtime (whew!) but they did best after lunch because they were less fussy, required fewer diaper changes, napped more easily, and had plenty of time to adjust to their new surroundings when we arrived. The main thing that was different about this trip was that they were in their BIG KID booster seats, facing forward and could watch (educational) movies on their little laptop (we loaded it with all of their favorites instead of bringing the DVD player and having to spend time switching out movies or worrying about losing/scratching them).

{abc} content watching movies

After we ate lunch, I loaded everyone in the car, started a movie and hit the road!  I made sure to have their water sippy cups, snacks, toys, books, blankets, etc close by - one can never be too prepared! :)  During the drive the babies did amazingly! When a movie ended I'd pull over, start a new one, then get back on the road.  When they napped I played their sleeping CD (the same one I played for them in the womb, in the NICU and in their nursery .. needless to say, when it comes on, it's Pavlov-like and the babies doze off instantly).  When they woke, they watched more movies or read books until it was time to stop for a snack/potty break.

my escorts at the Shell bathroom in Centerville, TX

As luck would have it, the gas station I stopped at had no changing table, and even though the guy told me there was one across the street, I wasn't going through the hassle of loading and unloading the babies again.  The hubby purchased this collapsible wagon at Sam's so I threw the babies in, wheeled them behind me and parked them in front of my stall with the door open so I could keep an eye on them (of course, as luck would have it, the handicap stall was "out of order" that day).  Afterwards, I brought them outside, changed their diapers on the driver's seat, and gave them snack (cheerios in their cup holder and water in their sippy cups).  Once they finished, I started another movie and hit the road! I was so surprised at how well they did - I'd catch them contentedly looking out the window, telling me about every "ca" (car) we passed or "moo" (cow) they saw (lots of country back roads), giggling at the movies, holding hands with each other (more giggles), and playing peek-a-boo (TONS of giggles).

look who we surprised!

My mom had a prior commitment at her house that night and because my grandma (Nonnie) was on the way, I decided to drop by and take her out to dinner with the babies. We made our rounds, said hi to our "fan club" (the poor neighbors who get stuck looking at EVERY single picture of us or hearing all about "the triplets" whenever Nonnie's around) then ran crazy all over Nonnie's NON-childproofed place....

bringing Nonnie everything she should have cleaned up before we arrived like scissors, antique figurines, nail polish...

.... and knitting needles!

My brother and his wife met us for dinner at ZuZu's - a place we HATED (and that's putting it mildly) growing up, but now actually enjoy ... funny how that happens! We enjoyed great company, watching the babies throw food all over (sorry ZuZu's) and as always, meeting new people who were so excited to tell us all about their "friend's neighbor's cousin's girlfriend" who works with someone with multiples (oh, that never gets old...). I got the babies to my parent's house and after playing with Yaya, they went down easily for bed. 

Due to my mom getting lost amongst the pain-in-the-butt-always-present airport construction and his flight being late, my dad didn't get home until around midnight, but as his favorite (only) daughter, I stayed up late to surprise him.  My dad ended up catching a cab home, and I just so happened to walk outside as they pulled up.  To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.  My dad was so stunned that for seconds he didn't say a word.....  then the tears came - it's difficult to make my dad speechless and he's normally not a big crier, but I suppose as "daddy's little girl," I can have that effect on him.  My dad said he was so honored someone would do something so selfless for him (typically he's the one doing the surprising) that he didn't know how to receive it.  Then he saw the high chairs, baby toys, octagon, etc and realized I had not traveled alone :) 

SURPRISE PAPA!!!

Because my dad had obviously not known we were coming, he scheduled a few doctor appointments the next day, but I knew this and had arranged a play date with a local triplet family I met the previous spring.  They have 3 boys who are 6 months older than us and live close to my parents.  We recently connected again via Facebook and have become great friends with lots in common (besides the whole triplet thing)!

at the Arboretum - my crew was 3 mo & hers were 9mo

 

this picture just cracks me up .. us talking while a crowd surrounds us, taking pictures & interrupting us to ask personal none-of-your-damn-business questions

Flash forward a year and our babies are now 17 and 23 months!  Here are a few pictures from the play date that quickly turned into a WATER play date!  When you're a mom to multiples, you quickly learn to adapt and pick your battles so as soon as the hose was discovered, the water table became a bathtub, and the pool was dragged out, everyone was stripped down, immediately given swim diapers!

oooooooh what's this???

Mrs. Jenny to the rescue!

oh you know, just 6 toddlers running around .. typical "small" play date for us!

Mrs. Jenny is THE coolest! She gave us our OWN applesauce & let us play with spoons (we even surprised mommy with how great we were at using them - fine motor success!)

the cutest little water babies taking a lunch break - sharing food & drinks with each other!

ahhhhhh taking a break!  those {K} kids can wear you out!

Needless to say, the babies crashed before I pulled out of the driveway - what a fun day!  Can't wait until the next trip to Dallas so we can play some more (& so mommy can have more of those delicious bottomless mimosas!) :) When we got home it was time to play with Papa (& Zoe).

The next day, was Papa's actual birthday so we celebrated by going to the park at the Nature Preserve.  Boy these kids have a LOT of energy!

Happy Birthday Papa!

momma & {abc}

Yaya wrangling the crazies!

as my dad would say, "it's like herding cats"

We worked up a sweat at the park, so we decided to cool off by playing in more water (seems to be a trend) with the sprinkler, baby pool, the dog's water dish, and snacking on some refreshing watermelon.

ahhhhhhh refreshing!!!

this looks like more fun plus i can have it all to myself!

our first taste of watermelon

what have we been missing???  we want seconds .. and thirds ... and fourths ...

We had a fun dinner with my parents, brother and "sis-in-love" that night then went to church together the next morning.  As we were getting ready I noticed Alyssa was missing. I found her playing "make-up" with Yaya ... and so it begins!

I decided to stick to our same routine of leaving after lunch since it was successful the way up to Dallas, so after a delicious lunch at Chipolte, everyone was loaded up, movies were started, and we hit the road!  This time I decided to stop at the Buc-ee's (large Wal-Mart-esque gas station) in Madisonville since I figured if anyone would have a changing table, it would be them.  So when we arrived, I unloaded the babies into our red wagon and got ready to fight the crowds; however this was an experience I could have never predicted!  As soon as an employee saw me pulling the babies inside, she instantly acted like a security guard, clearing a path for us to the bathroom.  Once inside, she guided me to the largest stall and informed me the changing table had actually broken the day  before (are you KIDDING me?!?!) so I changed their diapers in the middle of the bathroom. As I laid one down to change their diaper, a few employees helped distract the other two for me.  Then they escorted me through the store while I grabbed some snacks, and made sure I got to my car safely - now THAT'S what I call customer service!  Babies were once again loaded, fed and entertained.  More peek-a-boo games, giggles, and snores then we were home!

All in all, I'd say it was a successful trip .... I'm ready to do it again!