Are we there yet?

This past weekend we traveled about 6 hours north to a family wedding.  For the most part, my kids are pretty good travelers.  How good do kids have it these days?  Seriously - reclining, bucket seats, their DS, movies, Ipods??  So much better than when I was a kid.  We basically had a book and for me, that wasn't an option because I got car sick.  Car trips for me meant either sleeping or staring straight ahead.  Fun times, especially with an older sister who would trick you into looking out the binoculars thus making you vomit, and a younger brother using your leg as part of the wrestling ring for the duffel bag of wrestlers that is sharing the seat with you. Anyway, my kids have it made....there is a point to all of this.

So we got the kids out of school right after lunch.  My thinking is that they would be fed and tired from recess.  For the most part, they were great.  However, it did take them a while to get in their "zone". 

The van is loaded up...we have luggage, snacks, activities, pillows, etc.  Everything needed for a successful day of travel.  It's 12:22.  The GPS is ready - arrival time says 5:58 PM.

The boy decides to sit in the back row away from his sister.  He turns on the movie Rio and is good to go.  My daughter is in the middle row and decides to do her homework.  Ahhhhhhh, I have such wonderful children. And then it starts....

"MOM - HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET THERE?" comes a scream from the back row.  He has his headphones on so of course, he's talking loud enough that every car within 7 miles can hear him.

"QUIT SCREAMING - WE CAN HEAR YOU FINE" from the daugher...."I'M TRYING TO DO MY HOMEWORK"

"WHAT?"
"I SAID QUIT SCREAMING"
"WHAT?"
"I SAID QUIT SCREAMING:
"WHAT?"

This goes on for about 10 more rounds before he finally removes the headphones.  By this point, my daughter has freaked out because she needs complete silence to do her homework. She can't get comfortable.  She's yelling at her brother who doesn't even know what he did wrong.  I'm trying to yell over her to tell him to stop yelling.  It's 12:27 and  we've traveled 2.3 miles.  I'm thinking their allergies seem bad and they may need Benadryl.  Don't judge people.

Everyone gets calmed down and back to quiet for about 10 min.  And then from the back row...

"MOM -HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET THERE?" 
And here we go again.  But I realize with all the yelling, his question didn't get asked earlier.
"SERIOUSLY - CAN YOU JUST TALK LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING?" is shouted from the middle row.

At this point, it's going to be a long trip until Dad pipes up and tells them to all be quiet and calm down.  I'm wondering why he didn't do this 7 miles ago because when Dad talks, everyone listens.  (even me sometimes!)  I just turn and look at him and say "You know, this is a blog entry waiting to happen!"

So we are about 20 minutes into the trip.  Everyone is finally settled into their zone and it's going well.  This actually continues for a long time.  I'm texting my sister in law and am totally jealous that she's in another car 2 hours ahead of us with total silence but really, things are going okay.  I have my memory foam pillow, I'm just drifting off into a little nap and from the back row,

"MOM - I'M THIRSTY AND HUNGRY"
By this point we are over half way there.  Trying to be healthier and save some money, I packed a picnic.  My plan was to stop and eat and let the kids run around at a playground.  So we stop and get the cooler out.  My son says "Mom, you know I can't eat outside.  There are flies outside and if a fly lands on your food, it will poop on it and I'm not eating fly poop."  So much for my planning.  He did eat about 3 bites and then took off to play. 
Back on the road, the GPS now say arrival time of 6:38.  Every time that number pushes back, I cry a little inside.
The boy is now watching Rio for the 3rd time.  He ended up watching it for about 12 hours that weekend.  He wasn't complaining so I wasn't about to rock the boat.
10 miles down the road -
"MOM - I'M HUNGRY BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME ANY LUNCH.  CAN I HAVE A SNACK"
Seriously, you can see where the rest of this is going....

We had a few other bumps in the road.  My husband had the air on so cold that my face almost froze.  The plus side was when I got out of the car, it was frozen almost like I had Botox.  Unfortunately, it thawed.  For the most part, it went fine though.  I only had to yell a few times, the husband only had to yell once.  All in all, it was a great trip.


My friends and family tease that I'm so organized and such a "Martha Stewart" (minus the prison time). I really do try and plan and be organized but it usually just falls apart in front of me. I actually shocked (or maybe impressed) some friends a few weekends ago by yelling at my kids.  I guess I didn't realize that they had never heard me do that since it's such a common occurence around here.  Trust me, you'd see a whole lot of yelling if you were a fly on the wall....just don't land on my son's food.