Vacation 201

Day 2 of our vacation was just as fun as yesterday, although not as adventurous. Today went pretty much according to plan: Revelie at 3:30 am, accidently wake all 3 kids while moving them to the car in the dark, depart at 4:00 am, wonder if it was a mistake to leave that early when they are still awake at 4:50 am, reassure each other that you made the best decision when they finally fall asleep at 5am, then enjoy un-interrupted conversation until a spouse joins the sleeping crew-- (preferrably, it's the passenger, and not the driver that falls asleep.)

But, just because today wasn't as adventurous as yesterday, doesn't mean we didn't learn some valuable lessons today. Follow along as we discuss the guidelines that Vacation 201 has to offer.

Rule #4 - While on vacation, a sleeping child uses approximately 1.5 times his height in circumference of bed-space. This rule was discovered last night when I decided to share a twin bed with my 20 month old son. Numerous times, Maddox and I have shared the only sliver of bed left after pregnant Sheri gets comfortable. But while on vacation, children decide to explore new sleep positions. Apparently, the standard tummy, back, and side positions are too passe for vacation, and new positions such as perpendicular, upside down, backwards, and the popular foot-to-the-unmentionables should be attempted numerous times during the night. Who needs a grandfather clock to chime every hour when you've got a child ticking off the quarter or half-hour by changing positions?

Rule #5 - When sharing a bed with a child, proper sleeping position is with their head at your feet. This may sound strange at first, but consider that if a child's head is on the pillow with yours, their feet are directly in line with your nether regions, a part of your body that is extremely sensitive to blunt force trauma. Putting their head at your feet not only fixes this problem, but it also discourages them from sleeping perpendicular (shins and knees are not nearly as comfortable for them to lay on) as well as allowing your elbows, wrists, forearms, and ribs, all parts of your body that do not bruise easily, to absorb the blows from flailing feet. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until 2:17am. It was the best hour of un-interrupted sleep I had that night.

Rule #6 - Breakfast at the buffet. Nothing says good morning like a car full of tired and hungry people. I don't care how good the honey bun and french vanilla coffee were at keeping you awake while everyone fell back to sleep, tired + hungry = cranky, and cranky can ruin a morning faster than spilt coffee. The good news is that a full stomach fixes both by making one sleepy, even on the brightest mornings. However, most people don't realize that it's not enough to just stop at the first Denny's or IHOP that comes along. Restaurants such as IHOP and Denny's are good for hungry people. Cranky people need a buffet! At a buffet, there is no wait for food, and there is no crying, temper tantrums, or melt-downs when the children can't decide what to order. Unless you have a snack to get the kids started while the food is being cooked, the only way to breakfast is to find a buffet.

Thankfully, we adhered to this rule today. We took the exit and scoped out our options...



Hmmm, Waffle House or Shoney's...




You can't pass up a Shoney's !!