Road Rules

Day One (as it stands):

We left about 2.5 hours behind schedule, which is not the end of the world because we should arrive to D.A.R. State Park in Vermont with enough daylight to set up camp and get dinner started. London just recently grew big enough to sit in a forward-facing car seat, so we debuted that today, thinking that the novelty of seeing what we see would make her a more willing traveler. In reality, it made her screaming less muffled, as it is now megaphoned right into our ears.

While it was a bit of a crazy start, she is sleeping peacefully now, along with Harper who delayed us a tad with his (no joke) 20 minute pit stop before we were even half an hour outside of Rochester. But, a man's business cannot be rushed...

The oldest girls are busy with their activity books I put together. I am contemplating what this trip's focus should be. We have some specific things we want to work on with each kid, but the overall theme for the trip will be gratitude. In keeping with my goal of total fabulousness in my old age, I am going to use this time to be more aware of, and thankful for, every single thing in my life. That means no complaining.

In order to reduce complaining, I plan to strictly enforce some rules. Some are basic; keep your area of the car tidy, no waking up the baby, no whining, only one show allowed per day in the car... Some are a little more unusual; no gremlin crying in the tent, if you slam your whole water bottle before we are out of rochester, you lose the privilege of water, and sprinkling your legs with water is not allowed.

We are harsh I know. But, this should help in making this a fun, family adventure for everyone. Speaking of everyone, our outspoken and high-maintenance friend, Joe Cassara, lodged a complaint against last year's blog coverage. He claimed that there was a disproportionate amount of attention paid to myself and the kids in comparison to Tom.

So, by singular request... I give you a new recurring feature called "All Tom, All the Time." Expect big things. If you hate the name, consider yourselves lucky that I didn't take Joe's suggestion and call it "Kingtom" as in "Kingdom," but dumber sounding.

A little taste of what's to come in "All Tom, All the Time"?? Well, re-read last year's posts about Tom's desperate search for buffalo, but insert the word moose where it says buffalo. This should give you the general idea.

The next two nights Tom's parent's will join us in Vermont. I have high hopes of eating so much Vermont cheddar and anything Maple-flavored... Because like all fabulous elderly women, I love myself a maple treat.