Greetings from Virginia Beach
We made it! All in all the trip was not bad…I spent the day packing and mowing the lawn (had to get those leaves now since we are going to be gone a week…I cringe to think of how many would have been there when we got back…actually I still cringe but it won't be nearly as bad). I had resigned myself to the boys playing video games all day so I could get everything done (Jeff was not due to return home until after we left) and what did they go and do?? Surprised me. Came out and jumped on the trampoline for quite a bit while I was mowing. Then when I went inside I found that they had found the battleship game and were playing with each other! And not fighting at all! Wonders never cease. And they were big help with packing…making sure that we had everything and reminding me of quite a few things.
So after gassing up the car and a quick trip to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte and hot chocolates, we get on the road at 4:30 (only half an hour behind schedule…good for me!). We hit a lot of traffic getting out of Northern Va…I tend to forget how bad it can get at times. But soon hit open road.
The boys are very good at car trips…as long as we have a good audio book we are in good shape. We are listening to Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke…an absolutely wonderful story (thanks for the recommendation Kathi!). This one is definitely worth getting on CD…the voices are wonderful and it is incredibly well read. The boys were just about beside themselves while we were going through the Chesapeake Bay tunnel, laughing hysterically. And I consider myself lucky to be able to discover some wonderful books right along with them. There are some great books out there! Makes me doubly glad that I did not get the DVD player option when we got the new car. I debated, but I thought that we would miss out on enjoying our audio books. I figure for very long car trips we could always play a dvd on Jeff's laptop, but for shorter trips, like those to the beach, books do just fine.
We got to my in-laws a little past 8. The boys wound up staying up pretty late as they were too excited once we got here. I realized quickly that it would be futile to try to get them to fall asleep. But they did eventually. All in all, not a bad day…especially one that was spent mostly packing and traveling. As the boys get older, things are definitely getting easier. They are getting downright enjoyable. :o)
