The Animal Fair

I went to the animal fair.
The birds and the beasts were there.
The grey baboon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair.

The monkey he got drunk
And sat on the elephant's trunk.
The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees
And that was the end of the monk.

You would think that after my previous solo trip up North, that I wouldn't be foolish enough to attempt another three-hour car ride with the babies without enlisting some adult back up. You would be mistaken! Since Dad's Father's Day present this year was kind of lame (hey, doesn't every dad need a new butter dish?), I thought that taking Max and Molly to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a few days and leaving Dad home alone to enjoy some rest and relaxation would rank pretty high up on the "priceless" scale.

So, I requested a couple of days off of work and started to gather up the truly frightening amount of stuff that we "needed" for a 3-day, 2-night stay. Aside from the normal stuff (clothes, diapers, wipes, toiletries), I found it necessary to bring the following: two Pack and Plays, blankets for the Pack and Plays, a baby monitor, the Babyhawk sling, the double stroller, Max's angel quilt, Monkey and Bunny (the stuffies Max sleeps with), a half dozen "comfort blankets" (i.e. cloth diaper burp cloths), the portable DVD player, a stack of Elmo DVDs, bunny grahams and cheddar bunnies (bribe snacks for when the yelling started), baby cereal, baby spoons, bibs, several cubes of frozen baby food, a bottle of breast milk, the camera, and the ever-present diaper bag. I also brought the book I'm currently reading, thinking I might have some down time to read a couple of chapters (hahahahaha).

Dad helped us back up the car Thursday morning and waved and smiled (a little too broadly, I might add) as we pulled out of the driveway. I decided to leave around 10 a.m., hoping that by 11/11:30 a.m. Max and Molly might be ready to take their normal afternoon nap. The first half hour wasn't too bad -- Max talked a bit and kicked the back of my seat, while Molly crinkled her bug toy. We made it about an hour into the trip before Molly's squawks turned into shrieks and Max started yelling. Since Molly had refused to eat before we left, I figured she might be getting hungry. So I pulled off at a rest area so I could nurse Molly and set the DVD player up for Max.

When I walked around the side of the car to pull Molly out of her seat I discovered that not only had she spit up all over her cute little outfit (which she almost never does any more), she had loaded her diaper. And, of course, it wasn't just a normal dirty diaper, it was a nice, extra-full, oozy diaper! Since the back seat was full of car seats and the passenger seat was full of baby gear, I had to change her on the driver's seat. Lets just say that a hungry, crabby, wiggly baby and a very messy diaper are a bad combination. Thank goodness I had the foresight to pack plenty of wipes! I nursed Molly while Max hollered in the back seat and I attempted to distract him by pointing out the little dogs that were being walked outside our window. Then I popped Molly back in her seat, set up the DVD player, and we were on our way!

The second hour of our trip was pretty uneventful -- Molly fell right asleep and Max was captivated by Elmo in Grouchland. Although I didn't watch the movie and only listened to it, I have to say that Elmo does an inordinate amount of shrieking and yelling in this movie (even for Elmo). I was sorry I hadn't packed any Advil. But, even in spite of the headache, I totally take back every snotty and disdainful thing I ever said about having DVD players in the car -- they are lifesavers if you're making long trips with very small children.

Unfortunately, all good things must end -- about two hours into the trip we ran into some wretched construction. One would like to believe that there is some Master of Construction whose job it is to plan construction projects so that multiple construction sites/road closures don't occur in the same area. Apparently he's on an extended vacation. I was not happy to discover that the highway exit I needed to take was closed and I had to take a detour through the downtown area of a large city (instead of bypassing it entirely). I was less happy to discover that not only was the DETOUR route under construction, but that it was being used as a detour for other closed roads as well. So, when the construction on the detour left only one lane open, there was a bit of a traffic jam. And, since everyone knows that stopping the car is a surefire way to wake a sleeping baby, it's probably no surprise that Molly promptly woke up ... and was not happy.

We eventually made it out of the construction and safely to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Max and Molly were very happy to get out of the car, eat some lunch, and check out their new surroundings. Max quickly discovered that Grandma and Grandpa's house is delightfully free of annoying things like doorknob baffles and cabinet latches. Imagine his glee when he discovered that there was a low kitchen cabinet full of crackers and cookies and that he could open it any time he wanted to! He especially liked toting around a giant carton of Goldfish snacks while chanting, "More cracker, more cracker!"

We had carefully planned our visit to coincide with the county fair. I thought Max would get a big kick out of seeing all of the animals, especially because you can get right up close to most of them (and even pet the friendly beasties). After lunch we headed over to the fair. Max walked and I strapped Molly into the Babyhawk and packed her all over the fair. Max was totally blown away by his first visit to the fair -- I haven't taken him to the zoo yet, so this was by far the most animals he'd ever seen in his life. We visited the bunny and bird barn first -- Max was really excited to see all the bunnies. He was able to pet a few through the cages and even tried to give of them a kiss! He was very impressed with the roosters, especially because a couple of them were cock-a-doodle-dooing up a storm. We saw horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats (including a bunch of kids), and Max even got to pet some adorable cattle dog puppies. Another highlight for the potty-minded Max was when Grandpa pointed out some horse manure over by the riding ring. Big poop!

After visiting the animals we walked through the midway. It was like a blast from the past for me -- I'd forgotten how "colorful" the crowd can be at the county fair. ;) Max was too short to ride any of the rides, but he stared in amazement at a couple of them. At the far end of the fair they had a pony ride set up, so Grandpa took Max on his very first pony ride. When Grandpa asked him if he wanted to ride a pony, Max said, "peese," but then decided he was "all done" after a couple of minutes. Of course, as soon as he got off he wanted to get back on again! There was also a petting zoo that had all kinds of animals -- including a baby zebra, a baby camel, and a giant tortoise! By the time we finished checking out the petting zoo, Max was so tired that he was eyeing other people's strollers and asking to be picked up (this from a boy who is almost impossible to tire out). Aunt May carried him back to the car and we took a very tired little boy home to get some dinner.

You would think with all the walking and severe lack of naps that Max would have been ready to zonk out come bedtime. Wrong!! I had a terrible time getting him to go to sleep -- he refused to sleep in the Pack and Play, but after an Elmo video, a couple of stories, some songs, and a LOT of crying and fussing, he finally fell asleep in my bed. He was so out that he didn't even move when I picked him up and put him in the Pack and Play. Of course, when Molly woke him up at 2 a.m., he remembered that he didn't want to sleep in the Pack and Play and ended up in bed with me. Until 4 a.m. when he and Molly both got up and were ready to start their day. I resorted to having them watch more Elmo videos in the hope that they'd go back to sleep. Molly did, Max didn't ... so we ended up getting up and having breakfast so Molly could sleep.

We had another fun-filled day with lots of playing, a trip to the farmer's market, another visit to the fair, and a trip to our old frog pond to show Max how to catch frogs (unfortunately, the frogs weren't cooperating). Although Molly napped well, Max, who must have been so exhausted by this point, resisted taking a nap and didn't get much rest. He and Molly were both terrible about going to bed the second night, although when I finally got Max to sleep, he was out for the night. Molly, on the other hand, picked that particular night to work on cutting her molars (we have two confirmed molar sightings) and was up a TON. No rest for the wicked!

Saturday morning we packed up and headed on home in the rain. Although both babies were starting into melt-down mode when we got in the car, they were both VERY good on the way home. And, to make life even easier, the rain let up and the construction on the way home was very tolerable. We did have to make a pit stop an hour from home, because Molly was hungry and I wanted to set up the DVD to Max (who had, until that point, been quiet and napping in the car -- unheard of!). Once again I pulled Molly out of her car seat to feed her, only to discover that she'd filled her drawers (and peed through her diaper). Apparently Molly likes airing her tushie at rest stops and gas stations all over the state!

We all had a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa (who Max has dubbed "Gaga" and "Papa") and Uncle Michael, and it was a very nice (if exhausting) trip. Dad enjoyed his quiet time, but was happy to see his noisy family return. I came home, promptly dumped the babies on Dad, and went and took a good, long nap! The babies were happy to return to their own beds -- they've been taking fantastic naps and going to bed early since we got back. It was nice to get away for a couple of days, but after dealing with my terrible little travelers, I'm kind of glad we didn't plan any big family vacation this year and are just staying close to home. Sometimes it's good to be boring!