Road Trip Recap

2 sentences sums it up .... I'm hungry.  Are we there yet?

Okay, so it was quite an undertaking to make this 4 day road trip - 2 of which were taken up with the actual driving.  Anne & I embarked on this with eyes wide open, or as open as they can be at 3 am.  We actually got in the car and in the drive way at 3:59, 1 minute ahead of schedule, but of course I had to get out & rearrange Zoey's DVD player, so we weren't officially on the road until 4:02; but it could have been worse. 

Riley slept the morning away, but Zoey seems to have this aversion to sleeping in the car.  She definitely did not get that from me, I love to sleep in the car.  We were lucky to mostly stay ahead of the rain (yes, it was a rainy day) until we hit the dreaded Virginia.  I don't know what it is about that state, but it feels like you are driving in it for 3 days.  We'd been good with our potty breaks and ate lunch in the car, so we opted to take a Target break.  We were able to get a new Barbie DVD ($5! score), some stick on heating pad thingys for my shoulder, a new teether for Riley and use the potty.  In some of our cases more than once before we got out of the store.

The ride was rather smooth.  Mild traffic on the George Washington Bridge, but that's to be expected.  Zoey was in awe of all the buildings in NY and all the pretty paintings (I had to inform her that was called graffiti).  No major melt downs until about 20 minutes from our final destination.  Yep, everyone in the car except for me was in major melt down mode.  Luckily we got there in one piece.

Friday was a gray & drizzly day, so our beach plans were modified to just going to Ocean Beach so that we could visit with my dad.  We had a yummy appetizer at Matthew's and walked around.  This was a first for Anne as she'd never been to Long Island, let alone Fire Island.  Nana Rose, Great-Nana, Great Pop-Pop and Grandma were all long for the ride.  We were able to meet up with Jeanne and she was able to met our newest addition.  After Fire Island we had real NY pizza (yum!).  Even though it was late we opted to stop for Italian ices (a must), but Zoey was melting down - she did not want Aunt Melissa to go home, so she took it out on me & Anne in the car.  Some of the things that kids comes out with is too funny. Okay, so maybe it wasn't nice to laugh at my 4-year old, but it really couldn't be helped.  We were all tired and punchy, and he tired-crankiness just pushed us over the edge.  Of course she cried when Anne & I got out of the car and told Grandma she wasn't allowed to get out --- not sure where that came from since I certainly didnt' say that.  She did apologize and it's a wonder what lemon ice can cure.

Saturday started off with us getting mani-pedi's in preparation for the Shower.  Then we had a steady stream of visitors; let's be Frank, no one really wanted to see me & Anne, it was all about Riley & Zoey.  Not that I blame anyone for that.  Anne & I ran to Stop N Shop to replenish our snacks for the 2nd half of the road trip and Anne got the 10 cent tour of West Sayville & Sayville.  Of course Saturday turned out to be a beautiful (beach) day.

After spending time straightening my hair (not sure why I did that considering it poofed up like nobodies business with in the first hour), it was off to the Arboretum for Melissa's shower.  I hadn't been there since I was a kid on a field trip with school.  What a beautiful place.  We got set up just in time for the first guest to arrive, and then the party began.  We were provided with our own pots of tea and trays of scones, desserts and crust-less sandwiches.  I think Melissa had a nice time at her shower, and maybe I can get the pictures uploaded this weekend (at least that is my goal!).

Of course we stayed up too late Saturday night, so the road trip to Georgia started with us only having about 3 hours of sleep.  Not a good start by any stretch of the imagination.  Oh, and then Grandma gave Zoey $2 to get something on the way home.  Yup, that would be why we had to stop 3 times in New Jersey.  Everyone feel asleep for a short morning nap, and I started getting a little heavy lidded, so I ended up pulling over in a rest stop for a quick power nap myself.  Of course that is when everyone else woke up.  Anne did the bulk of the driving on the way home and I had the pleasure of entertaining the children.  How did our parents ever manage with out portable DVD players?

We made it  home close to 11 pm, all in one piece, but exhausted