Have Kids: Will Travel - Reprise

As I sit here longing for my darling children to finally go to sleep, I smile as I remember the many highlights of our journey home today.

Things started off great with Ben howling - literally - at 6:15 am because he didn't want to go home. Since leaving him there alone wasn't an option, he finally relented and climbed into the truck.

We hadn't even gotten to the end of the road when Ben and Elizabeth started arguing about getting married. They almost/actually sounded like a married couple, and by the time we reached Tim Horton's Ben was practically in tears. Zach told him that maybe by the time they were grown ups the rules would change - this pacified him for a while.

In the meantime, Elizabeth found a green stamper from a Kinder Surprise and managed to give herself some very nice facial tattoos that would be perfect for St. Patty's Day. We were able to get most of them off except for one below her eye - it looks like a green tear and is kind of cute.

Things were quiet for a while - well, if you consider Elizabeth reciting every line from the Phineas and Ferb movie they were watching. While wearing headphones. I'm pretty sure people driving past us could hear her.

Eventually she fell asleep, and not long after Ben squealed excitedly "Mom, Mom! Look at my beard!" It was very cool indeed and was made out of bubblegum. Very sticky bubblegum. I'll finish picking it off tomorrow.

Other than Zach dumping out all the fish hooks in the backseat, things were pretty uneventful until about hour 8. That's when the kids started crying because we didn't go mini golfing while we were there. I pipe up excitedly (in an effort to distract them) "yeah - but did we go bowling?" This prompted more keening and wailing as we had not, in fact, gone bowling at all. Strike (out)! Sometimes my brilliance leaves me speechless! I don't even know what I was thinking!

A short while later, someone (the other adult in the car) dropped a massive stink bomb. Because it was pouring rain, I could not open the window, and the smell was nauseating. I was on the receiving end of many strange looks as people we passed saw me huffing into a bag of peppermint lifesavers. Hey, don't judge - I thought I was gonna die! I REALLY need to order those fart pads!!!

Finally, after 11 hours, one time zone, a few potty breaks, lots of laughs, and a few moments of tear your hair out fun, we arrived at Home Sweet Home.

Now if only the kids were as excited about sleeping in their own beds as we are ... sigh.