Life as a Yowler

We spent today, Suoerbowl Sunday, traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I made a tough decision to leave Isla with Brandon’s mom. I was very torn, but it’s so hard to travel with babies especially in the freezing cold. I knew she would be better taken care of with Lori. She isn’t addicted to nursing, and drinks plenty of water from a sippy cup. Lori will make sure she eats and sleeps well. Schedules and naps get so thrown off when we travel. Car seats and strollers are really tough at this age. And let’s be real for a second, hotels are the absolute worst with Isla. She’s an amazing little sleeper, but only in the perfect setting. In a hotel room, where she can see the rest of her family members, she enjoys crying all night. It makes for an entire family of grumps.

Yesterday, before we left, we went to a bowling birthday party for our friend, Emma. After bowling we started heading towards Minnesota and drove until 10:30pm, then stopped for the night. Brandon had driven half way between Michigan and Ohio to meet his mom and take her Isla earlier Saturday morning. I knew if I went along Isla would scream when we left her, and I couldn’t handle that. So I stayed home. I got a break, since Brandon took all four kids. What did I do with my break you ask? I exercised and cleaned…….UNINTERUPTED! It was beautiful! And I refuse to listen to Brandon’s negative name callings, such as “ big nerd.”

We didn’t leave the bowling alley until 5:30pm, but we got at least a few hours off the trip Saturday night.

One of Brielle’s very favorite things about traveling, is hotel breakfasts. She loves all the choices. This morning as I was about to eat, she goes “mom, silly you. You forgot to put your napkin in your lap. Don’t forget your manners.”

We stopped at an A&W for lunch today. Joah has a new favorite restaraunt. He couldn’t stop talking about how much he loved it. I have been a little scarred since our last trip to an A&W, and haven’t gone back since. I told Joah the story, because I remember it well. He was 13 months old. We were eating with some friends. Joah didn’t want me to help him drink his milk. He wanted to do it himself. The little booger grabbed his milk carton and threw it ALL over Sheri Lynn Essian. The entire restaraunt looked and judged. The only comment I overheard was from the table next to us. A lady said “ wow. Someone hit the terrible twos early.” Then when we went to leave my mom dropped her tray and her glass mug shattered into a million pieces. Luckily, today’s experience was much better.

Brandon even got the kids a souvenir cup. We told Joah he could have his since he behaved much better than the last time he ate here.

As soon as we got to our hotel, we went swimming. We are staying at a really nice hotel right in downtown Minneapolis. We have a beautiful view of the city from our room on the 9th floor.

After our swim, we ordered pizza and came to our room to watch the Suoerbowl. It was definitely different than any other Super Bowl Sunday. Even though we weren’t with friends, we had a blast.

Here is craft pizza at its finest. The one on the left was loaded baked potato. It was just as good and just as fattening as it looks.

The kids were so excited to eat in bed while watching TV. Traveling is fun for breaking all the rules.

Brielle and I painted nails while the boys finished watching the game.

The kids crashed soon after the game. Here’s to a good night of sleep!