...to travel to Michigan

...and thankfully, it was pretty uneventful  (though I am posting the next day instead).

I decided that in order to try to make the trip a little more smooth I would:

• bring along a potty seat
• buy the kids new movies
• buy the big kids new video games
• and bring along all of our own food (this would offset the cost of the new items above...besides their 'happy meals' always end up all over the floor of my van anyway!

The results:

• I haven't taught Timber how to use the potty seat yet.  And she had to go tinkle even more than I did.  Translation: we made many rest area stops anyway.  Having said that, these were much quicker stops than say stopping at Arby's or Panera.
• Abbey LOVES the potty seat in the van and used it far more than she would have needed to go otherwise.  Usually this would mean I was yelling at her to get back in her seat "now!" and "quickly!"
• The new movies/games were a hit!  An excellent transfer of costs.  Mark could tell me the true economic term.
• The idea of bringing out snacks along was overall a success.  I had started by giving each kiddo their own special bag of snacks...that were supposed to last the duration of the trip (13 hours).  I think by 9 am though, Abbey had consumed most of her desirables!

Because I have an awful, unsightly sore on my mouth, I felt like I must have looked like a battered woman who left quietly in the night.  My van was overflowing with suitcases and snacks.  I had four young kids AND the dog..and usually my temper would flare as we would go into the rest stops; usually me screaming something at one of them to 'hold hands' or 'we are IN a Parking lot"!

At the end of the day though, the trip was fine.  The kids were excellent.  And even the dog made it without any due harm.  Besides, she can't hear me anymore anyway.