Branson Stache Tour

If you're stopping in from Jenna's and want to read an intro on me - I wrote it yesterday, but check it out here.

I'm getting back into a bloggy groove this week, so instead of following the prompts - I'm just happy to be writing again. So, I thought that I'd write a fun post for you to see a sillier side of me. Earlier in June, my older sisters and I went to Branson for a weekend with our stepmom. Our main reason for going on the trip was because one of my sisters is turning 40 on the 30th of this month. So we went to spend some time relaxing from our daily grind as moms, and celebrate all of our birthdays... all of them occur between May and August... so it was in celebration of our 43, 40, and 34th birthdays. (I call them my older sisters because they are... but we also have a brother than is 10 and a sister that is 9.)

While we were in Branson doing some shopping, my sister found a package of mustaches in a toy store... so we decided to take pictures all across town with our mustaches... so here you go - a mustache tour of Branson.

And one good shot of the three of us that we gave our Dad for Father's Day - because he is so wonderful to foot the bill for the four of us to have a weekend to recharge from taking care of a combined 7 kiddos!

Me, Cathi, and Cindy

(youngest, oldest, middle)

Tales from the Road

Traveling 10-11 hours with two toddlers is certainly an endeavor for the strong - because it'll kill you if you let it!

This was our 4th road trip since we've moved, and it certainly was better than any of the rest in a lot of ways. James was much better about it - just watched his movies and as long as his meals weren't delayed... we just kept on trucking. Tyler on the other hand was still a bit fussy about being stuck in his seat for so long.

We kept them fed while moving - thanks to Chick-fil-a, McDonalds, and Subway. One of us sits in the back with the boys so that we can feed them their meals as well as monitor bottles and juice consumption. Otherwise they'll throw things and not be able to reach it - which would mean a stop to retrieve the item that was thrown in the first place.

Other stops - which this trip coincided with meal or gas stops - include diaper changes. Our car has always been incredibly packed - so there isn't really space to change them... what do inventive parents do in that situation to avoid gas station bathrooms with babies? We change them in the driver's seat. Oh yes, they are getting too tall for this... but Momma will teach them to do a standing diaper change when needed. We will also carry a portable potty with us when they get old enough to be potty training - so that we can stop when needed, but don't have to expose them to the yuck that you can find out there traveling.

Speaking of this - funniest moment of the trip came close to the end on the way down to TX. We were about 45 minutes from my inlaw's house when James started trying to poop. (sorry for the TMI) I can't imagine trying to do that in a car seat that provides a lot of resistance... but there he was, my poor little dude with some constipation issues to begin with. I could tell he was trying, and he started to cry. He eventually started to panic - so we had to pull over immediately.  The only thing was we were on a BUSY major interstate freeway in Texas... so we pulled off the road and grabbed him out of his seat. He finished his business, we got him changed... then we had to put it in 4 wheel drive to get back on the freeway.

I think that might be one of those classic memories that will haunt James for years to come - because his Daddy is still bringing it up and laughing about it. Poor baby!