The Travelling Band of Gaffords

My dear readers, as you are all well-aware, our little family of 4 went on a trip this past weekend to Slidell, Louisiana, for my cousin's wedding. My wife covered all of our busy-ness and fun in her previous post. I won't add anything more to that except for the part where someone pulled over a glass vase full of Hershey kisses right after the newlywed couple cut the cakes. Apparently, if no one was going to give Hershey kisses to Naomi, then no one was going to have them. Period. Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to detail some tips and thoughts on travelling with two little ones. Your mileage may vary of course, in both driving distance and the success of these tips. With that, off we go!

(1) Know your route. Look, I know you're saying, "Duh. What kind of stupid tip is that?" Well let me ask you this, suppose there's a huge traffic jam or construction area slowing you and everyone around you down. You know that it's getting to be feeding time for your animals. Are you going to suffer through the stop-and-go, scream-and-fuss traffic? Or will you choose to be the savvy traveller, do your homework ahead of time (I see you, Google maps), and prepare to take evasive action to resume travelling speed? Fortunately, we did not have to exercise this alternative plan, but you need to have it, because when your toddler has to go potty, sitting on I-55 just won't cut it.

(2) Plan your schedule. If this trip were just Ginny and me, it would have been easy. We could make the trip in a total time of probably 7 hours (drive + stop time). With a 2-year-old and 10-month-old, not so much. Based on our directions and my research (I see you again, Google maps), I knew the drive time would be around 6 to 6.5 hours, given ideal driving conditions. Our plan was to stop every 1.5 to 2 hours to let Nyla run around and go potty (because no one likes to sit in a peed-in carseat), with an extended stop for lunch. That worked out well. We stopped just shy of 90 minutes for breakfast, had a potty false alarm an hour later, and was able to enjoy a nice long lunch at Dairy Queen about two hours later. After that, except for me changing a poopy diaper on dirt road off Louisiana Highway 10, we were able to roll into Slidell with no trouble at all. (If our trip was going to be longer than 9 hours of drive time, we probably would've had to break the trip up over two days, because I refuse to ride in a car with over-tired Naomi.)

(3) Make time when you can. If your little ones are asleep and there's no highway patrol in sight, then put some miles on the trip. If your kids are morning people, get ahead while they are happy. We left before 7:00 last Thursday morning, because we knew a) that was when our girls are happiest; and b) that the earlier we could get settled at the hotel, the better.

(4) Make the trip fun. Ginny was going to put together a fun to-do book with different things in it for Nyla to do. Because the two weeks prior were busy preparing for a visit from Ginny's grandmother, the time got from her. She was still able to put a nice little kit together of things for Nyla to do. A cookie sheet with magnets, crayons and paper, books, and stickers were all our Big Girl needed to be happy. As for Naomi, she was happy to play with keys and whatever else we gave to her. Nyla also talked to her and entertained her as well. Also, I decided Thursday morning to get us a special treat for breakfast. Early that morning, I went and picked up donuts for us, which we then had at our first stop. While some would say that's nothing special, donuts are a special treat for us, so it was great to enjoy them on our stop!

(5) Relax. This one can be hard to do when you're stuck in a small hotel room trying to get 2 busy but now fussing girls to sleep. It was hard for me Thursday night when over-tired Naomi visted our room. Once they got to sleep, though, it was quiet and peaceful in the room, until they woke up at 5:15. Enjoy the trip. Have fun. And remember the good times of the trip, like Nyla saying in a depressed voice Thursday, "We're nootttt gooinng hooooome."

Have a great day!

-D

First Family Trip

This past Thursday we traveled to Slidell, LA for a family wedding (Daniel's cousin's and he was in it too). This was our first time traveling with both girls and let me tell you it was interesting. They both did great in the car which I was a bit surprised by but all four of us in one hotel room was tough! I'm even more thankful for our modest 1300 square foot house. It seems HUGE to me now!

In our room we set up Naomi in her pack-n-play in a dark corner of the room and Nyla slept in a bed surrounded by pillows while Daniel and I occupied the second bed. We planned this to be the sleeping arrangements before we got there, as you should plan most everything when little ones are involved. :) The first night seemed like it would last forever. Nyla kept peeking into Naomi's bed and Naomi kept standing up in her bed laughing at Nyla. It was all fun and games until Naomi got overtired and started screaming. And overtired Naomi is one of the worst things imaginable. I'm sure the people on either side of us pretty much hated us for awhile. Daniel got Nyla settled down and I did my best to settle Naomi. It took a good 30 minutes (at least) and each of us to handle Naomi to settle her. Thankfully, Nyla was asleep and nothing could wake her by this point. I finally got Naomi under control and she slept great. And then 5 a.m. rolled around and they were both up. Yuck! Thankfully, sleeping got easier for them and by our last night they both went down with no trouble, of course!

Since we planned an extra day in our travels we were able to drive over to New Orleans for a few hours on Friday morning. I have never been and Daniel was a kid when he went so we were both excited to head over there. I didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked (typical me) but that can be hard to do when it's flippin hot and we're having to wrangle to little ones. I do what I can do. :)

First stop: Cafe du Monde for beignets.
This was a must and they didn't disappoint either. The girls gobbled them up too. :)

St. Louis Cathedral

Daniel and Nyla outside St. Louis Cathedral

This place was beautiful on the inside and outside. It was an overwhelming experience walking into such a big and beautiful church.

"Moonwalk" or Riverwalk by the Mississippi River

Bourbon Street

See, I told you I didn't take a lot of pictures in New Orleans.

We walked around for probably 2-3 hours in the sweltering heat and practically melted. We also searched for a bathroom someplace that didn't have a sign out that said, "For paying customers only." Nyla is day potty trained and the last thing we needed was her to have an accident there. Right after we visited the cathedral we started looking for a bathroom so we didn't get in an emergency situation. Thankfully, we found one after a few minutes of searching. It's so hard traveling when you have little ones and you have to think about those things. Don't even get me started on places to change diapers. Ugh! I appreciate being home with a changing table and a bathroom that's always available. 

Friday also meant rehearsal for the wedding! Daniel and I were so excited that Linda (Daniel's mom) said she'd watch the girls so we could go to rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner without the girls. It was such a treat to be kid-free and be served dinner. I didn't have to cook or clean up the kitchen. It was pretty great.

The future Mr. and Mrs. John Gafford

I took no pictures of our dinner so I'll tell you what we ate.

Salad: spring mix lettuce with walnuts, grapes and apples with a wonderful tasting vinaigrette

Soup: I had a sausage gumbo soup and Daniel had the corn and crab bisque

Main course: I had steak and Daniel had the Mahi; both were served with a roll, asparagus and mashed potatoes

Dessert: I had the creme brulee (wow) and Daniel had the white chocolate bread pudding

The dinner was at an old house that only serves breakfast and lunch but opens for dinner for special occasions. They had 2 servers for 40-ish people and they did a wonderful job. They really knew what they were doing there. The beautiful place was called Sunset.

And now we've come to Saturday the wedding day. Because Daniel was in the wedding he was only with us until 9:30 a.m. when he and his brother had to leave for pictures. Thankfully, Linda was able to help again with the girls. We went out and ran around and had lunch together and she helped me get the girls ready for the wedding after their naps. I couldn't have done it without her! 

I, unfortunately, didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom but you can check out the wedding photographers (Erin Rachel Photography) website and blog. She doesn't have anything up quite yet but I'm sure she will in the next few days. Her and her "second shooter" did a great job capturing John and Sarah's big day. 

Here's a few of the pictures I was able to get with two busy and tired girls!

Naomi, Daniel, Andrew, Linda, Nyla and Ginny

Family picture

Daniel and happy girl Naomi

Ginny and Naomi (she's always happy, I promise!)

Ginny and Nyla (the tired toddler)

"Gigi" and her girls

The reception was held in an old house and it was beautiful. The place is called Patton's but I don't believe that is the original name of the house.

Gigi and sweet Naomi

Haha!

Me and my beautiful girls

I love this funny face!
Thank goodness there was yummy wedding cake. :)

We left Sunday morning and were able to meet my mom's good friend, Mandy, in her hometown of Brookhaven, MS. She saw Nyla in early 2011 and I was barely pregnant with Naomi so she hadn't seen her yet. I'm so glad we were able to have a visit with her even if it wasn't long enough. Thanks Mandy for suggesting to meet us!

Naomi, Mandy, Ginny and Nyla

We had a wonderful, first-time traveling experience with our girls. We look forward to many more adventures as a family but for now we're glad we're home and resting. I'm appreciate and am much more thankful for our small home. We have plenty of room to spread out and play separately and it doesn't feel so small anymore!

Congratulations to John and Sarah Gafford. And thanks to the Rick Gafford family for making us a part of their son's special weekend. We are thankful!