The Zacharda Triplets: Thanksgiving Road Trip

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to make the trek to Boise, ID to spend Thanksgiving with Jacob's brother, Dan, and his family.

I think we must have been certifiably insane when we made this decision.

We figured it wouldn't be that bad as long as Jacob's parents accompanied us and stayed in an adjoining room at the hotel so that we would have somewhere to go while the kids were napping and sleeping at night.

Who wants to sit silently in a dark, hotel room while their kids are sleeping!?

Little did we know that days before our trip we would get a big dumping of snow, making for some horrific driving conditions over the mountain passes. What normally is about a 9-hour road trip turned into an 11.5 hour road trip!

Kate (pretend) calling everyone she knows on Mommy's cell phone.

"Hi Aunt Amy! Hi Mema Judy! Hi Gabba Sue!"

C-Man playing with Daddy's cell phone.

It seemed cell phones were the best way to keep them entertained :)

Reece having bunny time post tantrum.

Poor little bubba just wanted out of the car!

In addition to the weather slowing us down, we had to make lots of stops for the kids to stretch their legs and get some energy out, eat food, change diapers, get gas, use the bathroom, and so on. It seemed like every time we got back on the road, someone would poop and we'd have to pull over yet again.

I can't even count how many times I had to climb into the back seats to hand them toys that they had thrown on the floor, give them snacks, change the DVD (we ended up watching our Elmo DVD SEVEN times!), put their socks back on, entertain them, and so on...

Once we finally arrived in Boise though, things went pretty well. We all had a great time at Dan and Marie's house and ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal. The kids loved playing with their cousins, Ellie and Preston, and loved playing with all of Preston's toys.

Yes, Grandpa Bill is sleeping on the couch in the background.

Kate's wondering what that loud noise is coming out of Papa's mouth??

What the!??

Bo in a box.

Twins - Chase and Preston!

Even Grandma got in on the toy playing action!

While our time at Dan and Marie's house was very enjoyable and our hotel was super nice, our time spent in the hotel was not so peachy.

Like I mentioned earlier, we thought it would be manageable if we had an adjoining room with Grandma and Grandpa so that we wouldn't have to sit in our dark hotel room while the kids slept.

We did end up getting a room next to Grandma and Grandpa, but it wasn't adjoining so we couldn't hear the kids if they cried (I knew I should have packed the baby monitor!), so the first night I volunteered to sit in the room while the kids fell asleep.

I don't know if it was the fact that they were in a new place, were all in a room together, or were just happy to finally be out of the car, but falling asleep took a LONG time (over 2 hours!).

They talked and talked and talked...

after about an hour, I started writing down everything they were saying.

It was as if they were reciting every single word they knew...

wowie. jump. play. shoe off. school bus. oh no. oh yeah. judy. doggy. daddy. two. wow. WOW! green means go. wee. hi reece. daddy. hi c-man. up. help me. yeah yeah. choo choo. coo coo bird. oh yeah. stop. NO BO! hi mommy. pink bunny. go. car. shhhhhh. hi. night-night. moo. neigh. ruff ruff. uh oh....

and it went on and on until their heavy eye lids finally closed.

By that time, my heavy eye lids closed as well.

It was a long day.

And a long night.

Reece awoke with a coughing fit at midnight.

Chase cried and screamed for MOMMY! at two o'clock.

Kate cried at 2:30.

Chase cried again at 4:00 whereupon he joined us in bed.

Kate woke up at 5:30 thus waking her brothers up.

So around 6:00 we were all up and ready to begin Thanksgiving Day.

But, boy were we TIRED!

Unfortunately the next two nights went much the same way.