Min & Chris' Life in Dirty Diapers: Vacation Chronicles: The Drive

There were many reasons I thought driving to Orlando would be a fun adventure. I thought it would be cheaper than 4 airline tickets, baggage costs then renting a car at the other end. I thought it would give us a chance to catch up and spend time together as a family. I thought it would be fun to take our time and find fun things to do along the way. And while the boys were decently well behaved on the trip (considering their ages)...I'm not sure we'd ever make that drive again when we could fly! =) Long car trips are nothing new to Chris and I - and we made quite a few of them even after Luke was born...but it is definitely a different story traveling with a 3 year old and a 17 month old.

We had the portable DVD player with us - which is really what made the trip bearable. The kids were just enthralled with the ability to watch CARS, Dora, Diego, etc. in the car. I had purchased travel trays that strap over their laps in the car seat, which I thought would really be a big hit...but they ended up being a disaster. So much for coloring and a play surface for the car ride! I don't know what it was about that little soft table over their laps - but it only took 2 minutes for both of them to decide that they didn't want to use it. And within that two minutes they had both scattered crayons all over MeMe's new car (Steve and Judy offered to let us take their car instead of the van...that way we didn't have to worry about it breaking down in the middle of our trip!) It wasn't a big deal until we stopped in the stifling heat and realized that any unfound crayons would melt...NOT GOOD! It shouldn't be hard to find a few crayons right? Well the car was PACKED full to the brim...so yes, it was hard to find a few scattered crayons. During one of our stops, I was able to locate all the crayons but one. Needless to say I was a bit stressed about that one crayon forming a huge blob of wax in some hidden corner of the new car. Thankfully the next day I found the crayon still intact with no leftover stains or wax blobs. Phew! =)

Our first evening of travel we only got 4 hours under our belt. We traveled the entire next day and managed to get within 2 hours of Disney World. Our third day of travels brought us right to the gates of Animal Kingdom. Whew! We thought we'd never get there! Here are a few pictures from our road trip!

Will is ready to get on the road!

The start of our trip at 8pm on Father's Day. Calm-happy-and excited to be watching CARS in the car!

Chris had 14 months of driving to make up for...but I'm not sure he wanted to do it all in a few days! =) Don't worry, I helped drive.

Luke and Will captivated by their DVD player...

The first night (these pictures were taken the following morning) we stayed at this very nice Hampton Inn. We took the chance that we could afford a room there - and with the military discount, it ended up being very reasonable.

Luke and Will loved the room - and loved being able to stetch their legs when they woke up in the morning. Here Luke is having a pillow fight with Chris.

Will was already tired even before we left that morning!

Luke loved the breakfast there. He was very excited to bring back fruit to enjoy as well. Here he's devouring a whole orange - after eating a full breakfast I might add - before we left.

The elevators had mirrors in the ceilings - which the boys loved looking at. Take a close look at Will in this picture...he's pressing the emergency button while we're snapping the pic!