1 Mother 2 Another

Since Brian was out of town part of spring
break last week (yeah, I’ll forgive him for that one some
day) he took the rest of the week off when he got back, and on
Friday we went out of town for a little day trip. We didn’t
go far – only a couple hours out of the city – but it
was definitely the longest the girls have been in the car at one
stretch (that they remember) and we were both a bit apprehensive
about it when we set out.


Being the over-organized, must-control-everything person that I am,
I spent the night before in a frenzy of preparation. We were
heading to an outdoor wildlife conservation park, where you can
drive through the park and feed the wild animals from your car.
Giraffes and zebras walk right up to your car to say hi, and
knowing the girls’ love of animals we thought it’d be a
good fit. I’d ordered seats on the guided tour beforehand,
and simply had to plan for the time in the car.

I packed nap blankets. I packed books. I
packed magna-doodles, and small stuffed animals for storytelling.
And, of course, copious amounts of snacks. I had extra bottles of
water filled and on hand, several extra diapers and wipes,
band-aids, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, extra jackets – I was
prepared.


In addition to packing for the trip itself, I had to do some
pre-planning for the girls’ clothing. We decided to get them
up early (for them) and bundle them in their pjs into the car,
hoping they’d go back to sleep for part of the drive. They of
course did not, but that’s another story. I had to have a bag
of clothes for them, socks, shoes, hair accessories, and jackets
set aside – and being the over-planner I am, I packed an
extra set of clothes for each of them.


I have to confess, the day went spectacularly well. The girls
thought that eating fast-food breakfast in the car was the coolest
thing they’d ever done, and screamed with laughter as they
changed clothes in the mini-van at the site. I never used a single
snack or book or toy that I’d packed, if you can believe it.
The car was stuffed full, but the entire drive up there was spent
chatting with anticipatory excitement and oohing and aahing over
the flat Texas plains and oil refineries.


We had an absolute blast on the safari tour, and the weather was
perfect for it. Both girls were quite brave and loved being in an
open-air jeep with the animals nearby. After a lunch at the
café there we headed to a nearby state park known for its
dinosaur footprint fossils in the river bed, and spent the
afternoon wading through frigid water and picking up rocks.


Which means that yes, I did indeed use that second change of
clothing for Cora – twice. For breakfast Cora had an orange
juice three times the size of what we give her, and by the time
we’d finished the guided tour her diaper had leaked and the
pants were damp. I changed her into her other pants and left the
jeans to dry, thinking we might need them. And after a few minutes
in the water, my excited nature girl did indeed need to change
pants again, as hers were drenched through from splashing for
rocks. I felt no small amount of vindication for my overpacking!


After dinner at a local diner, we set out for the long drive home
and I brought out my secret weapon – Brian’s laptop. We
don’t have a car DVD player, but Brian set his laptop between
the front seats and the girls watched a Thomas movie as we drove
home. Did I mention they were eating ice cream at the same time?
They thought they’d died and gone to childhood heaven.


As soon as we got home they went obediently to bed and were asleep
within seconds. I spent the next hour unpacking all the junk
I’d brought along, fearful of not having the right thing at
the right time. Most of which had turned out to be completely
unnecessary.


Which just reminded me how much my kids are growing up. Gone are
the days of needing a snack every two hours, or needing constant
entertainment from Mommy (well, most of the time that’s
gone). They can tell jokes to each other and play from their car
seats, and wait another twenty minutes for lunch if they have to.
My biggest worry – no place or time for a nap – turned
out to be needless, as Cora obligingly took a twenty-minute nap in
the car as we drove to the Dinosaur park, making the entire rest of
the family say a silent “thank you” for that grace.


Summer road trip, here we come. I think.