The Play by Play -Part 1

This is a documentary of Ainslee's first road trip

***i am typing this post as we are on the road***

My mom, dad, little brother, Ainslee, and myself are driving up to Chicago for my cousins wedding tomorrow. We are dropping John at his friends house who lives west of Chicago and then going to some family friends house for the night (that sounds confusing but I don't know how to fix it).

It all started about 5 am. Ainslee slept through the night again, so we got a little later start than we had hoped. She was in a great mood and we got on the road at about 6 am. The first 2 hours went smoothly. Well except the fact that when my mom went to throw her banana peel out the window her bracelet went with it. We detoured to try and find it (it was a gift that came from Mexico so it was irreplaceable), but we had no luck. Then a few more miles down the road the malfunction symbol showed up on the car. I called the roadside assistance people who told me it was a problem with the suspension and to stop and restart the car. Ok did that. Indicator light went off and we were back on the road. It was smooth sailing for about 30 minutes. Then Ainslee decided she didn't want to be in her seat anymore. FABULOUS! So then we had to wait to find an exit that could suit all our needs, food, gas, place to nurse/ change Ainslee. All this and we are only 2 hours away from home.

Right as we are about to get off the interstate to stop the screaming that was echoing throughout the car, she stops! She was at least 30 minutes away from feeding time, so I figured let's try and stay on the road until we can stop once for everything. Everyone was scared to speak, let's all just stay quiet and maybe she will be quiet too. Especially me, I didn't want her hearing my voice and then wanting me. It worked, we were able to drive another 30 minutes.

Ok we made it. We stopped, changed poopies, ate breakfast (I never knew I could eat a large beef n cheddar minus the bun and a medium fry at 9 am. I guess you learn something new about yourself everyday), nursed Ainslee, filled up with gas, changed another poopie, and hit the road again. Oh wait I almost forgot the most exciting thing about our stop. John scarffed down his food so that he could take mom to go buy him some scratch cards. They each got one card. John scratched his and it was a loser. Then we all peered over moms shoulder as she scratched hers. I briefly glanced at the instructions and saw that she needed to get an 8 to win. The first row she scratched an 8 and won $2. The next row she scratched an 8 and won $2 more. I looked at the instructions again thinking I read it wrong, sure enough she had already won $4. She keeps on scratching, the next row she won $8, the next $2 more, the fifth row revealed another $2, and finally the last row she won another $2. That was $18 total! We were all laughing and screaming. John was begging for his money back, saying he bought her the card so he gets the winnings. SO FUNNY!!! Mom agreed to give him $3 back and he bought 3 more cards, all losers. So mom walked away $15 richer. It was quite amusing to witness the whole chain of events.

We are back on the road, Ainslee and mom are sleeping, dad is driving, and John and I are playing with our various electronic items we brought.

Oh wait....... 45 minutes down the road Ainslee decides to wake up and scream. I settle her, then she screams again, this goes on for about 1 hour until she finally settles enough to fall back asleep. I feel so bad sitting there watching her cry and can't even pick her up to soothe her. Are seat belt laws in effect for RV's? Maybe we should get one of those and do our travelling in that. Hahaha that's a joke, like we could afford one, let alone the gas for it.

Alright we just stopped again. More nursey nursey, as Kaylee would say. Gas, another dirty diaper, ice cream for mom and John, and bathroom break for me. All that and we were back on the road in 13 minutes. That's gotta be a record.

John and I continue to entertain Ainslee inbetween naps while dad continues driving. I can't even count how many times John asked "are we there yet?" or "how much longer?"

We made it to the next stop.......the Village of Dwight. I was starving for a long time, and if you know me I have to EAT when I'm hungry, fast food just doesn't cut it for this chic! Anyways so for like 45 minutes dad was saying "let's just make it to Dwight it looks like a big enough city where we can get something good to eat." little did he know that the big city of Dwight was just a freaking Village. Once again dad gave us all a good laugh. We all walked into Pete's, practically ordered one of everything on the menu, stuffed our faces and hit the road again.

We rolled into yorkville to drop off John right as Ainslee fell asleep. John surprised his friend who used to live down in c'ville. He is one of 5 boys and every one of them was dying to hold Ainslee. One of them even said he wanted to skip his canoe trip this weekend because he wanted to stay with Ainslee. When he learned she wasn't staying, and only John was, he was pretty bummed.

After visiting for about an hour we hit the road again! Ainslee had her fill of her car seat for one day. I think 10 hours in her seat was too much for her to handle. She cried the whole way to our final destination for the day. I nursed her and put her down for the night. She was out like a light. The 13 1/2 hour trec was just about all I was ready to tackle for one day too. I will surely enjoy a good nights rest tonight!