The Tangrens

Then realization began to hit…We are going to drive across the country with a five year old, two year old and a two month old. We began to wonder what we’d been thinking. But by then we were committed and I began scouring the internet figuring out things that would keep my boys engaged and happy along the way.

Craziness ensued the days before the trip and we didn’t have a whole lot of time prior to get things together. To do lists spilled over into the next day and the next. We were up until 2:00am the day of the trip and I wished Derek a happy birthday before we went to sleep in the wee hours of his birthday. Derek wanted to get a haircut that morning before we left. We figured haircuts and donuts would be ok for the morning of. Then the barber shop wasn’t open it derailed our plan. Then we thought we should look in to getting a place to stay tonight…which took much longer than we'd anticipated. So we got Derek's hair cut another place...

While I kept the boys entertained.

We were off across the country at around 1. I’d hoped that we’d be underway at around 10 but realistically was thinking at least by noon. We really were getting a late start. We were determined to make this trip as low stress as possible and give ourselves plenty of time to take our time. The boys were incredibly excited, mostly for the piles of treats we’d packed but also for the coloring books that their best friends the Mejia boys had brought over in the morning for them. Those coloring books kept them occupied and happy the whole day. Seriously so nice. We sure are going to miss them. We promised to send postcards regularly.

We hit the wall around 3:30 and needed to stop to take a power nap at a truck stop. Well Derek who was driving took a power nap while I fed Elijah and read to the boys.

Next stop was Grandma and Grandpa’s house for some hugs, playing, and birthday cake. I was glad that they got him a cake and gave him presents. Derek insisted that we not do presents this year since we’d be spending so much money on the road trip but I was sad that it didn’t feel like a birthday for him.

Up until now it felt like we were just going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for the 4^th of July. It felt so strange to be leaving so soon. The boys certainly weren’t ready to be leaving the toys they’d forgotten even existed. We hadn’t been to Grandma and Grandpa Tangren’s house for a year. That is ridiculous for being as close as they are.

The boys did pretty well today as far as traveling went. There was a lot of “I can’t wait to get there” and a few “When are we going to get there” but it wasn’t too bad and we were always almost to a destination when they asked. I only brought out the map of the country to color because we’d crossed a state line with the resounding “Goodbye Utah! Hello Idaho!” Except Hyrum said “Hello Michigan!” so we had to give him a visual of where he was. Hyrum was excited to color in a state.

The other thing that the boys really liked was the car day trip measure. I cut out a line drawing of a minivan that looked very much like ours (and drew happy stick figures of us in it) then attached it to a piece of curling ribbon (with paperclip weights on it to keep us from driving upside down) that I strung from one handle to the other across the car then put 13 marks on it figuring that 13 hours would be the longest day that we’d have of travel on any given day.

Then throughout the day I moved it along the ribbon with every hour. Hyrum LOVED it and thrilled to see it move across the car. What I hadn’t expected was the attention it got from even Eli. I’d forgotten to bring toys to hang on his car seat or anywhere for him to look at so when I attached a piece of colorful paper to it which Hyrum was recording his reading on Elijah was just transfixed. I picked up some toys from Grandma’s house to attach to his car seat but nothing caught his attention like the car and colorful paper.

We ended up staying in St Anthony for the night. It was a quirky little place. The lights by the bed didn’t work. The sink drain stopper didn’t go up and down and the shower head was probably a foot too low. For the first time in my life I felt super tall. Must be a lot of short people in St Anthony. And a lot of farmers and greese monkeys. J