Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Long Weekend

Steve's soccer team is playing in an annual tournament in a town about a 6-7 hour drive from our home (Vernon) on the May long weekend.

Originally I planned to go too, with the kids. Then I changed my mind, thinking it would be too much work.

Then this week I realized that next Thursday morning, Steve will leave and be gone for 5 days.

That's 5 days as a single mom with a 2.5 year old and an 11 month old...

Naturally I went into panic mode and required sedation.

So it turns out that it's NOT too late for the kids and I to join in on this little trip. Heh... *phew*

Except that while I blocked out all Steve's planning and trip details over the past couple of months, he made arrangements to leave on Thursday morning to go golfing in a neighboring city with a teammate.  Which just means that I would have to drive to Vernon, alone with the kids on Friday.  Which... I'm going to do.  But I'm a little bit nervous. But kind of excited about the trip too. The hotel has a pool and free breakfast and we have a kitchenette and there are restaurants and a mall nearby.  With a little luck the weather will be decent and we have have some fun.

My concerns are these -
~ the drive, alone with two little, bitty kids.
~ Lincoln's sleeping (I don't want to mess it up)
~ being stuck in the hotel room every night from 7pm on because kids need to go to bed.
~ sticking to my diet
~ getting obsessed with planning for the next week.

Anyone who has any tips, suggestions, tricks, assvice for me? I'm all ears.

3 comments:

Eb said...

We just took the kids to the UK.

1) The car was great at getting the kids to nap
2) Stick to the sleep scheduale at all costs (the hotel may well give you a room for free for the kids??)
3)Diet - plan ahead but plan to treat yourself. Make it fun for you too :)
4)Plan for help - DH or family or service. I wish I had got a nanny from a website to help out for a few hours a days (not that I would leave them alone but help would have been amazing).

Take as much home "helps" as you can - toys, feeding tools etc. Especially stuff like DVD's that the kids watch or blankets and cribs sheets. Nothing worst than getting there and having to go shopping.
good luck!!

Anonymous said...

Few pieces of assvice:
-put together a "play box" for the kids in the car. I throw some favorites, some ones he hasn't seen in a while, as well as a clipboard/crayons, and some books. Usually keeps him entertained for a while. If you have a portable DVD player, bring that too...my little dude was fascinated by it on our last trip...Baby Einstein!
-Bring a blankie for each kid, but don't wash it before you leave. Sleeping in a strange place can be tough, having a blanket that smells like home can really help
-Screw the diet (sorry, I'm no help with that)...I'm sure you'll be walking around/exploring lots!
-Will any of Steves buddy's be next door? If so, maybe you can party in their room and have a baby monitor?

...but most of all, have FUN! You deserve it. :)

Candi said...

As far as the car ride, I have complete faith in you. I just took my kids to NY which is a 5 hour drive. My suggestion is 2 seperate DVD players and lots of snacks that don't involve sugar. Don't worry about getting there at a certain time...because you probably won't. If you need to stop and let them out of their seats to play for a few minutes, do it. You're a rockstar...you'll do great!

Have fun!!