Everything New

Update on 11/29/06:

Thanksgiving in Kentucky

We're back! What an incredible journey. Our round-trip adventure to a cabin in Kentucky was a huge success. All things considered, it went very smoothly, with a few rough spots - but I guess that's to be expected.

Markers and Dinner and Vomit - Oh, my!

Our first day's drive was relatively peaceful until just before dinnertime. The little ones in the back row grew tired of the car trip and were getting hungry, so I gave them some markers and paper to hold them over until we could find dinner. The paper lasted about 3 minutes. The markers lasted far longer. When I looked back, I was (not too terribly) surprised that Max looked like he'd slit his throat and given himself a nosebleed. Nadia was on her way to becoming a pumpkin and Ruca was happily painting herself green.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Loren went inside to make sure the restaurant could handle our little group. Rather than clean them up in the car and then take damp kids out into the cold, we decided to carry them into the restaurant to clean them off where it was warm. Carrying our colorful trio into the restaurant, I couldn't help but notice the looks on the faces of the staff. I could sum it up in one word - dread. And, rightfully so.

They had sectioned off a part of the restaurant and put us in a private area. Thank goodness for that. First, I spilled my drink. All over the table, the chairs, everywhere. Then Ruca snagged a piece of raw broccoli, started to chew and decided she didn't like it. Ruca (or Ruca-puke-ah) as we call her, immediately started gagging and jamming her finger back her throat. I knew what was next and I didn't want her to vomit all over her clothes. So I stuck my hand out and caught the fall-out. Loren followed up with a plate. Meanwhile Angus, Kelli, and Kevin tried to continue on eating, pretending there wasn't a little girl intentionally vomiting at the same table. By the time it was all over, we were all laughing. It was just too surreal. I'm so grateful that they put us off where nobody had to be witness to our insanity.

Hotels and Triplet Toddlers - A BAD combination!

With that done, our thoughts turned to the hotel stay. Yikes. Again, not without incident. Tell me, somebody, how to get three 2-year-olds quietly to bed in a strange hotel room. Baby Ambien? We had a few minutes of jaw-clenching horror while the kids screamed themselves to sleep at the hotel. Worried we'd be thrown out, I was grateful when they finally drifted off.

In the morning however, our little victims of routine were thrown way out of whack. Screaming, we loaded them immediately up in the choo-choo wagon and ushered the out into the hall to take them downstairs and away from other sleeping hotel guests. Not fast enough, I guess. A lady bolted from her room, shouting something - "get your kids out of the hall or shut them up!" Loren began to respond with "why don't you go..." and then stopped himself. Little ears - loads of them. Thankfully, we were done with that part of the journey, and onto the cabin.

Our return trip to the same hotel yielded an extra sheet of paper for Loren to sign upon arrival - something stating "guests who make excessive noise will be asked to leave." Hmmm. Funny. We'd never had to sign anything like that before. We slinked into the hotel and slinked back out again in the morning without any trouble. Wheeww!

Meat & Potatoes

As for the turkey-n'-gravy of our trip, it was wonderful. We stayed at a very rustic cabin with most of my in-laws. Our little group behaved as well as to be expected. We had WAY too much food. We took the whole family to a national park for a quick hike through a cave. Fun stuff. The little ones even had the chance, with such beautiful weather, to roll around in the leaves for the very first time, and go on their first hike in the woods.

Angus got to shoot a bb gun with Loren's help and really seemed to enjoy the rustic adventure. Kelli had a great time hanging out with her cousin (same age) and read two full books on the trip. She's a super-fast reader. As for Kevin, he probably had his fill of three obnoxious 2-year olds because on the way back, he had a terrible migraine and three fed-up toddlers did nothing to help his situation. I think next time we travel as a group, probably Kevin will take his own car.

There were those who thought we were crazy for attempting two full days of driving each way with a carload of kids. Crazy, we are. Thankfully. Because it was worth every bit of effort it took to get us there and back.