Driving across country

I could seriously write a novel with the stuff I heard last week while driving 2500ish miles across country with my parents (both in their 70s) and my children.  OY! 
Never did I hear "I have to go potty?" or "Are we there yet?"  But the ever loving "She bit me!" and "She won't stop laying on me!!" did make an appearance.  There was the occasional boredom giggles and the occasional "All right, that's enough!" from my amazing mom who contained the girls in the backseat while I drove the whole way at mach 4. 

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer full of good family time.  If you've never driven across the country with your children, DO IT!  It's a trip none of you will ever forget.  We've done it the last 3 summers and will enjoy the memories (and scars from bite marks) forever!!

Saving gas

So, it's been two months since I've posted anything on here.  Not that you've noticed.  *wink wink*  But, we've been taking the bus WAY more than normal so we can save gas and money. 

Now that the car ride is only a few minutes, our conversations are more  along the lines of "mom, we've only got 3 minutes to make the bus.  If it's 5 minutes until we get there, we're going to be late.  Can you drive faster?"

yeah, they don't push much.  It's a push and pull kind of system.  They push, pull, and expect me to drive over whomever gets in our way.  I figure it's my way of teaching them how to drive in say, downtown NY.  Granted, I might not ever let them behind the wheel of a car.  Ever.  I love them in the backseat.  Buckled in.  Bee-boppin' to the radio.  Chatting about whatever. 

Maybe we'll drive all the way to school tomorrow.  Just to see what they have to say.

March 4 - "I'm tired."

6:  "Mom, I don't want to go to gymnastics!"

Mom:  "But you were just excited to go so you could show me what you could do in there."

6:  "But I'm sooooo tired!"

Mom:  "Why do you think you are so tired?" 

6:  "Probably because I had too many dreams last night about having 4 hands."

Mom:  "Really?  You had a dream about having 4 hands?"

6:  "Yeah, it was wierd.  I was just wondering how I would do a carwheel with 4 hands."

Mom:  "I bet you could do it with practice."

6:  "No.  I'd just still use 2 hands."

**silence for a few minutes**  I looked back and she was asleep.  Guess she was tired.  We made it to gymnastics and she had a great class.  I wish I could catnap like that!

NO TALKING!

Somedays, you just have to say "ENOUGH!"  Well, yesterday was one of those days.  After hearing the 496th "Moooom" followed by "She's hitting/touching/looking/holding or NOT giving/telling/sharing..." I told the girls that they were not allowed to make another sound out of the back seat.  If they made a noise, ANY noise they would lose a privilege.

After about 3 minutes of silence, I hear giggling.  I look in the rearview mirror and see the girls talking in sign language.  Yep, they were sticking their tongues out at each other.  *eye roll* 

FOLLOW THAT BUS!!!!!

So, some mornings we have tons of time to get ready and others, well, we don't.  Just depends on what day of the week it is, the phase of the moon, the direction of the wind, the time of the high tide vs low tide, you get the idea.  Today?  Today, we had a good morning.  For some bizarro reason the girls were in polite moods.  (for the most part)  Except for that one door slamming incident about roller skates, but that's beside the point.  Anyway, here's part of our conversation this morning in the car on the way to school.  (Yes, we had missed the bus.... in more ways than one.)  But when you SEE the bus...that changes things.

Mom:  Hey look!  There's your bus!

8:  FOLLOW IT!!  FOLLOW IT!!!  We can still catch it and go to school.

Mom:  We're only a few minutes from your school.

8:  But there's still one more bus stop before the school.  *takes a breath* We can catch the bus and then you won't have to drive us all the way there and you will save gas and the Earth and God will be happy that you let your wonderful and caring and sweet daughters ride the bus when they really want to see their friends and .....  *BIG breath*  Pleeeeeease?

6:  Hey, are you okay?

8:  Yeah, I just couldn't breathe.

Mom:  Okay, we'll try to follow the bus to see where it goes, but I'm not making a special stop at a bus stop that's less than 3 minutes from your school. 

*driving, and Mom made the big mistake of going straight when the bus turned*

8:  MOOOOOOOOOM!!!!  You didn' follow the bus!

Mom:  *completely oblivious to the bus*  Ah man!!  I'm sorry 8.  I am so used to going straight that I didn't even think to turn.  And in my defense, if I would have turned a car would have hit us. 

6:  (who has been so ever quiet during the whole commute)  Mom, you should get a lawyer.  That's not a good defense.

Mom:  Next time I'll follow the bus.

8:  Mom, next time we'll be ON the bus already.

(Lord, I hope so!)

*COUGH*

6:  "How do you get over a cold?"
Mom:  "Lots of rest.  Drinking a lot of water.  Taking your vitamins."
6:  "No mom... You jump."

Jan 18th...

6:  "Mom, did you know that it is physically impossible for your head to get stuck in a cloud?"
8:  "Hey, you're right!  Mom, she's right.  You can't get your head stuck in a cloud.  But you COULD get it stuck in a window."
6:  "Well, a window would work."
Mom:  "But probably not a great idea to try it, ~right?~
6:  "I'm not going to stick my head in a window, mom."
8:  "I could stick it in a window for you."
6:  "MOOOOOM, 8 IS GOING TO STICK MY HEAD IN A WINDOW!!!!"
Mom:  "No, she's not going to stick your head in a window."
8:  "You could also get your head stuck in a door, or an armpit.  Ewwww...that would be gross."
6:  "Unless you use mom's deodorant.  It smells like flowers."
Mom:  "Awww...thanks 6."
6:  "If you like flowers."
*silence for a few minutes*
8:  "Mom, did you put on deodorant today?"
Mom:  "Yes."
8:  "Good.  At least stinky flowers smell better than bad armpits."
6:  "I don't know.  Dad's armpits stink even after he wears deodorant."
Mom:  "Okay girls, we're at school.  Have a great day!"