Madison
Posted By Jill on January 30, 2011
At the end of October, the kids and I escaped to Madison for a week while Jeremy had to work out of town. Since I was still on maternity leave (technically), I thought I’d take the opportunity for a nice longer visit with Mom and the family, and maybe get together with some friends. I don’t think many people would take a 300-mile road trip with two little kids by choice. I am truly blessed to have such tolerant, flexible children.
On the trip down, we left at naptime. Mac slept for his usual 40 minutes (can’t get much more from him in the car). I had set him up with a bunch of interactive-type toys that he could reach himself. He did an awesome job. Vivian? She slept. We stopped half-way at a rest area. I changed both kids’ diapers, re-set Mac’s toys, and then set him up with a movie on my laptop that was sitting on the folded-down front seat in front of him. Ooooh, he is spoiled! He loved it and was content the rest of the way. Vivian? She slept. Well, until we were about a half hour away. Then she wasn’t happy anymore, but we were almost there, so I counted my blessings and kept going. Poor girl had a right – 5 hours in that car seat, and she was hungry to boot! On the way back home, we had a similar experience, though Mac didn’t need a movie. He slept right away for his 40 minutes. I was going to stop about half-way, but he looked like he might sleep again, so I waited. Amazingly, he DID fall asleep for about another half hour. Then we stopped at a Culver’s so he could eat and I could feed her (I wasn’t going to make that mistake again). Even after eating a bunch of Teddy Grahams in the car, he ate almost an entire cheeseburger (minus only half of the top bun), a container of apple sauce, and his milk, while I fed Vivian. Then we got his ice cream and my meal to go. Yes, I let him eat ice cream, in the car, by himself. He did amazingly well with it! I even let him wipe his own hands and face when he was done.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great the rest of the week, so we mostly played inside. Mac enjoyed playing with Matthew and Emily, played with his marbles and Nana’s new tracks, and got some good cuddles with Nana too.
Mac had some serious fun while we were there. As I was planning the trip, I recalled that the Milwaukee Zoo used to have a train that visitors could ride, and when I looked into it further, it appeared as though if the weather cooperated, we’d be in luck! So we went…
We had been struggling with Vivian taking a bottle until Matthew took over! She took one from him right away without any fussing. We asked if maybe he’d consider moving back to Minnesota with us… but the week proved to be enough, with Julie, Emily and Nana all having turns feeding her.
I also had some “time off” to spend with friends, thanks to Mom’s willingness to watch the kids. It was great to catch up!
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