Over Veteran's Day weekend, Chris, Avery, Rylan, Mom, and I loaded up in the van to head to Kansas City to visit my brothers and also meet up with my side of the family who we hadn't seen for way too long. This was our first time going out of town and staying overnight with both kids; it was also our longest road trip with either child, let alone both! We knew it might be a little tricky, trying to make sure we had everything packed for everyone, especially all of Avery's diabetic supplies. But we planned, made lists, and forged ahead on Friday morning (only about an hour after we planned we would leave).
Onto the lunch break: we took the interstate rather than the turnpike, not knowing how often we would need to pull over for Avery or Rylan and wanting an actual exit to be able to do that. Well, the kids traveled so well, we were able to go straight to Topeka and stop for lunch. After a small scare with Avery's pump, we ate quickly, fed Rylan in the car, then buckled back up to finish the trip. Here's Avery looking lively in the van, watching The Care Bears Movies for about the 3rd time. In a row. With the volume so we could all hear.
After arriving in KC, we went to Sam and Zach's condo to hang out for a bit and drop Mom off, then the rest of us headed to the Sheraton to check in. On the (very) short drive to the Plaza, Chris noticed we had a low tire light on, so we headed to a gas station to air up. Of course the air was not free (I guess nothing is these days), and I didn't have any quarters, so I got to experience the whole talking to the cashier through a bulletproof window deal to break my dollar.
Arriving at the hotel: we got checked in and parked in the parking garage. We finally were able to sit down in our beautiful hotel room (I'm being sincere here; the hotel was very nice.) Chris headed back down to bring all our luggage to the room while I stayed with the kids. 15 minutes later, my phone rings and it's Chris asking me to call the front desk and let them know that the elevator he's in is stuck and has been for awhile. Are you serious? Who actually gets stuck in an elevator??? I know it happens on every single sitcom I can name, but as far as knowing anyone this has actually happened to, well, let's just say I can now name one name.
Chris eventually got out of the elevator, made a new friend, and even drummed up some business for Zach's restaurant in the process. We ended up just staying in our room until it was time to meet Mom, Sam and Zach at Coal Vines for dinner. Dinner actually went fantastic. Everyone (including Avery) was able to enjoy some delicious pizza. Here's some pics from the evening out:
After a tour of the basement which just recently got completely remodeled into the Wine Vault, we headed back to the hotel to attempt to get the children to sleep somewhere other than home. Yeah, right.
Avery snugging in with Daddy.
Then headed over to the other bed to see Rylan. This game continued for quite a while. I think everyone finally got to sleep around 11.
The following morning, we packed up what we could and Chris took the first load out to the van while I was starting to get breakfast ready for Avery. Gone longer than I had anticipated, Chris finally came back into the room with the look on his face. Here we go again. The tire that we had aired up the day before was now completely flat to the rim. Chris headed back down to get the tire off and I was left to start making phone calls to find out where we could get the tire repaired. Sam was able to pick Chris up and take him to the tire place while I attempted to make scrambled eggs in the hotel microwave. After a lot of shuffling car seats around and the kids waiting patiently in the room, we were able to get checked out and visit my cousin's house while the tire was being worked on. Here's Avery waiting, waiting, waiting...
We arrived at Brandy and Eric's about an hour and a half after we were supposed to. They were so nice though and even had food ready for us all to eat. Avery met some of her distant cousins and played air hockey in the basement until it was time to leave. Here's some pics of her, Rylan, and the other kiddos:
Avery, Maddie holding Rylan, Bryce holding Quinn (somewhat), and Colin
Avery with Uncle Zach
Rylan with Uncle Sam
After picking up the repaired tire, we headed back to the parking garage where the poor van was still sitting on a jack. Chris and Sam got it back on, and we were finally ready to roll. We had planned on doing some shopping at Legends, so we headed that way with Sam and Zach meeting us out there. By the time we actually arrived out there, we desperately needed to get Avery her lunch, so McDonalds it was. Did I mention that Saturdays are NOT the day to try to go shopping at Legends? It took us probably 20 minutes to navigate through the parking lot just to get to McDonalds. Chris was ready to run other cars over, I was just about in tears from frustration, so it was then decided that we were going to eat and get the H-E-double hockey sticks out of dodge. I ate quickly then fed Rylan out in the parking lot again. Oh yes, we also needed to have diaper changes in the parking lot as well. Did I mention the wind was gusting probably 50 mph that day? So the car door kept wanting to shut as we were trying to get dry diapers on everyone. Okay, so after leaving and getting out of Kansas City, then getting past Topeka, I think we finally calmed down enough to realize the weekend had not been a total disaster. We were able to see my brothers, which we don't get to often enough; we ate unbelievable pizza at Coal Vines on the Plaza; we saw my cousins who I need to make a much better effort at keeping in touch with. Thanks again to my brothers and cousins for helping us out and being patient with us. A HUGE thanks to my Mom for keeping the kids happy, both in the car and the hotel room. Nobody got hurt, nobody got sick. We made it home in one piece. And if I'm a betting woman, which I am, by the way, I would say that someday...we will attempt to make this trip again.
