Addition for Road Trippin'

Traveling with 3 babies is just, well, exhausting. Not so much the travel part, even. Just the packing and thinking about what to pack part. Whether we're going up the street to Costco, 7 hours to San Diego or 2 hours to see family, it's always an adventure. You could do well to pull up a comfy chair, have a cup of coffee and watch what goes through my head as I begin packing 3 babies for a 2 hour trip to Phoenix to see Brian's family!

Typically my thought processes begin with....

1. What to wear.... I lay out an outfit for each of them for the day-(taking into account comfiness for travel.) Then I lay out 2 more outfits for each because spills, drool, pee, etc. WILL happen to require the extra set. (So...9 outfits)

2. Pajamas...Will we be there late enough for jammies? Better take em' just in case. So I lay out 3 sets of jammies. (Then I just take one extra set and hope that all three don't spill on themselves) (So, 9 outfits + 4 jammies)

3. Bathing suits because I believe they'll be swimming...so i dig through our stuff and lay out 3 swim suits and 3 swim shirts....then I make a mental note to get the new "Sportbrella" to put on the lawn for shade. Which then reminds me I need swim diapers, and sunscreen, so I throw those in! Where are we now? (9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits and shirts + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers)

4. Diapers....I do the math...I just changed them at 8am. We'll probably be back at close to midnight so let's see...about 15 hours. I'll probably change them every 4 hours, so 4 diapers each? Times 3 babies? 12 diapers....So I grab 18 diapers (you know, just in case). Then I grab a new pack of wipes, and diaper creme. Still with me? (9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme)

5. Movies for travel? As much as I don't want to listen to Nemo again, I grab it anyway as well as "Over the Hedge." For some reason envisioning comfy, movie watching babies makes me think of Ethan's pacifier. So I grab just ONE of those. (9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier)

6. Food- This is always the most time consuming for me. There are so many categories here....SoI start with 3 snack cups and fill em with goldfish. Three sippy cups filled with water (I'd prefer they have milk but traveling, getting warm milk grosses me out, so water it is.) Then I think about lunch. I know we're going where there will be food the babies can eat, but what if we broke down and I'd had nothing for them to eat? So I prepare as if there will be no food where we're going. So I make 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut off the crusts, then cut each sandwich into 20 bite size pieces. Into 3 separate sandwich tupperwares they go. Fruit? Today we go with 3 3 cups of diced peaches and 3 cups of mandarin oranges. Then I fill another travel bowl with teddy grahams and another with blueberries. I grab 3 plates and our 3 tiny diner rubber dining mats and 3 spoons. Three travel bibs top of the food bag. In case Ethan gets picky or something I randomly throw in a packet of instant cream of wheat and some brown sugar, because I know he'll eat that in a pinch. So...(9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier + 3 sippy cups + 3 snack cups + 3 PB&Js + 6 cups of fruit + 1 cup of blueberries + 1 cup of teddy grahams + 3 plates + 3 spoons + 3 dining mats + 3 bibs + 1 packet cream of wheat)

7. Hmm...how will we eat when we get there? Ah yes...better throw in the 3 highchairs since they'll be eating at least 3 more meals while we're there. (At this point, I'd like to recommend them to anyone else with multiples especially if you might ever travel with your babies. I bought the $39.99 Cosco brand from Babies R Us or Target. They are small, compact and fold almost flat for travel!) Love em! Stay with me! We're almost done! (9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier + 3 sippy cups + 3 snack cups + 3 PB&Js + 6 cups of fruit + 1 cup of blueberries + 1 cup of teddy grahams + 3 plates + 3 spoons + 3 dining mats + 3 bibs + 1 packet cream of wheat + 3 highchairs)

8. Eating makes me think about sleeping....better go get the 3 pack and plays. And 3 sheets to go in them. And 3 pillows and 3 blankets AND Hunter's special "woobie". Exhausted yet? (9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier + 3 sippy cups + 3 snack cups + 3 PB&Js + 6 cups of fruit + 1 cup of blueberries + 1 cup of teddy grahams + 3 plates + 3 spoons + 3 dining mats + 3 bibs + 1 packet cream of wheat + 3 highchairs + 3 pack and plays + 3 sheets + 3 blankets + 3 pillows + Hunter's woobie)

9. Thinking about the pack and plays reminded me that I didn't pack bottles. The babies only get one a day, right before bed. So...I grab 3 bottles, fill em with liners, fill the liners with milk, grab caps for the bottles and then an ice pack to keep them cool while we travel. (9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier + 3 sippy cups + 3 snack cups + 3 PB&Js + 6 cups of fruit + 1 cup of blueberries + 1 cup of teddy grahams + 3 plates + 3 spoons + 3 dining mats + 3 bibs + 1 packet cream of wheat + 3 highchairs + 3 pack and plays + 3 sheets + 3 blankets + 3 pillows + Hunter's woobie + 3 bottles + 1 ice pack)

(OMG are we done yet???)

10. Toys? They might need something to keep them busy while we travel so I throw in about 6 smallish toys...(9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier + 3 sippy cups + 3 snack cups + 3 PB&Js + 6 cups of fruit + 1 cup of blueberries + 1 cup of teddy grahams + 3 plates + 3 spoons + 3 dining mats + 3 bibs + 1 packet cream of wheat + 3 highchairs + 3 pack and plays + 3 sheets + 3 blankets + 3 pillows + Hunter's woobie + 3 bottles + 1 ice pack + 6 small toys)

At some point, some point when I'm so exhausted from that packing process, I have the thought, "I'm so tired now...do we really need to go?" Which is immediately followed by my other thought, "I just packed all that, you better BELIEVE we're going somewhere!"

So we throw in the last 3 items...Colton, Hunter and Ethan and away we go!

9 outfits + 4 jammies + 3 swim suits + 1 Sun Shade + 1 bottle of sunscreen + 6 swim diapers + 18 regular diapers + wipes + diaper creme + 2 movies + 1 pacifier + 3 sippy cups + 3 snack cups + 3 PB&Js + 6 cups of fruit + 1 cup of blueberries + 1 cup of teddy grahams + 3 plates + 3 spoons + 3 dining mats + 3 bibs + 1 packet cream of wheat + 3 highchairs + 3 pack and plays + 3 sheets + 3 blankets + 3 pillows + Hunter's woobie + 3 bottles + 1 ice pack + 6 small toys + Colton + Hunter + Ethan = A FREAKIN' ROAD TRIP!

And now, for the pictures! We're at Nana and Papa Bunch's house! They are trying out their new Baby Adirondack chairs ( SOO Cute!!) And in case you're wondering, yep. They all flipped over in them. Oh well! How else will they learn, right?

Ethan has found a toy, with wheels. Heavenly.

Princess Hunter enjoys being the center of attention. Always.

"Hey Look! My feet can touch the floor!"

Love it!!

My crazy girl

Puzzles with mom

Time to eat! (Good thing we packed those highchairs!)

Trying to help Papa pick out a movie to watch! (As you can imagine, the babies were SOOoooo helpful in this department). On a totally side note, The ad on the TV makes me think how disappointed my brother in law would be to see this. You see, he is an Insurance Agent for American Family Insurance so I feel like I should do a little plug for him....If you're like everyone else right now who would love to see your monthly bills decreased, then you need to call Emilio. He will totally save you money! Honestly, he saved us on ours and pretty much everyone else we know! Here's the thing...it can't hurt to call and get a free quote. Tell him the Bunch Babies sent you! I promise he'll take good care of you! Emilio Montes is his name...call him or email if you just want a free quote! emontes@amfam.com or (520) 319-7076

They are picking Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to watch

And yes, I always let them watch the TV this close. :)

Naptime! (Which can be confused with playtime for the first 25 minutes or so!)

BUT- After naptime was SWIM time! (Ok, well not so much actual swimming as splashing, but so much fun, nonetheless!)

Hmm...what's this?

"Oh! Hello Mr. Sun!"

And then, brave Aunt Kristen (left) and "Aunt Audrey" attempt to give the little lady some piggy tails for the first time!

"Hey! What's with all the hair pulling?"

Ta Da! Is that the face of contentment or what?

Cousin Chloe comes to visit and has her lunch!

Then it was time for the girls to swim! Hunter, Chloe and Alexa

While the boys play with the dog door. Typical.

I LOVE her little antennae!

Play time! There's cousin Bethany too!

Aunt Phyllis and Alexa reading

Ethan the puzzle master

And that my friends is our trip to Phoenix! As always, it was such a fun day! Just as planned, we drove back in to Tucson right at 11:00. Just. In. Time. For. Bed. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......