I made an extensive packing list beforehand and packed for myself and the boys for the weekend. We needed to head back to Portland on Saturday night because I had to work for a couple of hours on Sunday morning early. Even so, just being gone for 24 hours has its challenges when traveling with two small boys.
In order to beat traffic (my in-laws' idea, not our's), we left Portland close to 7:00. This would put us in Cathlamet around 8:30 which is well past both boy's bedtime. I needed to remind myself to roll with the punches and this weekend was going to be special and outside our normal schedule.
The drive was uneventful. Both boys were pretty much awake the entire time which is fine with me. We arrived at the boat, unpacked the car, made up the beds in the cabins and relaxed for a little while. Jack slept in the captain's quarters with my in-laws at the end of their bed. Jason slept in the front of the boat in his own room and I took the salon with Cal. It worked out well because Cal is still up a billion times at night and I needed easy access to the counters for his bottles. Sleeping with Jason in the front wouldn't have been very easy.
The boys amazingly enough went down to bed fairly easily around 9:30. Again, this is late for them but it's okay. I laid down with Cal and settled in. As expected, he was up a million times. Jack woke up excited around 6:30 and it was game over. He isn't quiet and so my in-laws were up too. Jason slept in while the rest of us were up and enjoying some coffee. We took our time getting ready but needed to be presentable around 10:30 so we could head into town and watch the parade.
It was Bald Eagle Days in the town and they always have a celebration with a parade, booths, vendors, activities for the kids and a fireworks celebration late on Saturday night.
We made our way up to the parade. Jack in his stroller and Ca in the Ergo. I made sure to get them both slathered in sunscreen beforehand. Jack LOVED the parade. I think his favorite part was scrambling to pick up the candy that was thrown out by the floats, cars and people. The parade was mostly old cars, firetrucks, police cars, some horses and it seems, a ton of political candidates. Jack didn't love the loud horns that the trucks honked. He spent a lot of time covering his ears. He must get his sensitive ears from his Mama.
After the parade, we found some lunch at one of the food vendors. Aside note: I had one of the best iced mochas in my life from a little coffee shop on the main street. Yum! We made the trek back to the boat where the boys napped and I pumped. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting and playing on the boat. Jack loved going from my in-laws' boat to Bill and Vicky's boat (my in-laws best friends). He wore a super cool life jacket of course. It was just easier to keep it on him the whole time rather than putting it on and taking it off when we boarded a boat.
Since Jack loves playing with rocks and being outdoors, we went on a walk around the marina. He was able to throw rocks, kick dirt, play with ants and just be a boy. We shared a huge Hawaiian ice and started getting ready for dinner.
Jason had tried to convince me before the trip that Jack would be able to stay up for the fireworks. I was NOT convinced. The fireworks didn't start until after 10:00 which is well past Jack's bedtime. Lynn, my mother-in-law suggested we put him down to sleep at his normal time and just wake him up for the fireworks. I didn't think that would work either. I gave in and decided Jack could stay up.
We had a lovely dinner of camping type foods and visited around a campfire. There are campsites around the marina and some family friends had rented a campsite. It was easier to eat there rather than squeeze all hundred people (not really) onto one boat to eat.
Everyone took turns keeping Jack occupied and busy. I got him into his jammies close to bedtime and put some shoes on him. We packed up the car so we wouldn't have to do it after the fireworks. Jack played for a while and started getting kind of whiny and fussy which are his indicators that he is getting tired. Cal meanwhile, in his jammies, slept in the Ergo. He was happy as a clam sleeping on Mommy.
The fireworks finally started and that kept Jack occupied. He really enjoyed them! Even though he covered his ears a bit, he loved all the colors and pointing out the shapes that they made.
Here is where the night went downhill fast. Once the fireworks were over, it was time to go. We got both boys in their carseats and they both started crying. It was 10:30 and they were pooped. Jack kept crying "Nana pum too!" (Nana come too). I said "Nana is in the car right behind us" (which was a total lie) and after about 3 minutes of crying, Jack fell asleep, followed quickly by Cal.
I drove, which sucked because I am usually in bed by 9:30. The drive was quiet until we got to Kalama, Washington. Then Jack woke up and started crying for Nana again. That in turn woke Cal up. I swear to God, no amount of consoling them helped. They cried from Kalama, all the way to Mill Plain Blvd in Vancouver. For those of you not familiar with the area, that is about 30 minutes of solid crying. It sucked.
At one point, Jason looked over at me and said "And you want more of that?". It was such comic timing that I just laughed hysterical.
Our boys are both good in the car and I don't get upset when they cry a little, but my nerves were absolutely SHOT by the time we got home.
As we quickly got the kids in bed, I realized that I had left Jack's pillow at the boat. Oh.My.God. It was like the world was ending how much that poor kid cried. I felt awful. This was after midnight and he needed to go to sleep. He cried for a few minutes and then crashed. Cal was still sleeping with us at the time so he just came to bed with me.
Lessons learned:
* Don't keep children up much past their bedtime
* Don't leave beloved pillow behind
* Comic relief works in tense moments
* Going to the boat is a lot of work but Jack clearly loved it
We made our way up to the parade. Jack in his stroller and Ca in the Ergo. I made sure to get them both slathered in sunscreen beforehand. Jack LOVED the parade. I think his favorite part was scrambling to pick up the candy that was thrown out by the floats, cars and people. The parade was mostly old cars, firetrucks, police cars, some horses and it seems, a ton of political candidates. Jack didn't love the loud horns that the trucks honked. He spent a lot of time covering his ears. He must get his sensitive ears from his Mama.
After the parade, we found some lunch at one of the food vendors. Aside note: I had one of the best iced mochas in my life from a little coffee shop on the main street. Yum! We made the trek back to the boat where the boys napped and I pumped. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting and playing on the boat. Jack loved going from my in-laws' boat to Bill and Vicky's boat (my in-laws best friends). He wore a super cool life jacket of course. It was just easier to keep it on him the whole time rather than putting it on and taking it off when we boarded a boat.
Since Jack loves playing with rocks and being outdoors, we went on a walk around the marina. He was able to throw rocks, kick dirt, play with ants and just be a boy. We shared a huge Hawaiian ice and started getting ready for dinner.
Jason had tried to convince me before the trip that Jack would be able to stay up for the fireworks. I was NOT convinced. The fireworks didn't start until after 10:00 which is well past Jack's bedtime. Lynn, my mother-in-law suggested we put him down to sleep at his normal time and just wake him up for the fireworks. I didn't think that would work either. I gave in and decided Jack could stay up.
We had a lovely dinner of camping type foods and visited around a campfire. There are campsites around the marina and some family friends had rented a campsite. It was easier to eat there rather than squeeze all hundred people (not really) onto one boat to eat.
Everyone took turns keeping Jack occupied and busy. I got him into his jammies close to bedtime and put some shoes on him. We packed up the car so we wouldn't have to do it after the fireworks. Jack played for a while and started getting kind of whiny and fussy which are his indicators that he is getting tired. Cal meanwhile, in his jammies, slept in the Ergo. He was happy as a clam sleeping on Mommy.
The fireworks finally started and that kept Jack occupied. He really enjoyed them! Even though he covered his ears a bit, he loved all the colors and pointing out the shapes that they made.
Here is where the night went downhill fast. Once the fireworks were over, it was time to go. We got both boys in their carseats and they both started crying. It was 10:30 and they were pooped. Jack kept crying "Nana pum too!" (Nana come too). I said "Nana is in the car right behind us" (which was a total lie) and after about 3 minutes of crying, Jack fell asleep, followed quickly by Cal.
I drove, which sucked because I am usually in bed by 9:30. The drive was quiet until we got to Kalama, Washington. Then Jack woke up and started crying for Nana again. That in turn woke Cal up. I swear to God, no amount of consoling them helped. They cried from Kalama, all the way to Mill Plain Blvd in Vancouver. For those of you not familiar with the area, that is about 30 minutes of solid crying. It sucked.
At one point, Jason looked over at me and said "And you want more of that?". It was such comic timing that I just laughed hysterical.
Our boys are both good in the car and I don't get upset when they cry a little, but my nerves were absolutely SHOT by the time we got home.
As we quickly got the kids in bed, I realized that I had left Jack's pillow at the boat. Oh.My.God. It was like the world was ending how much that poor kid cried. I felt awful. This was after midnight and he needed to go to sleep. He cried for a few minutes and then crashed. Cal was still sleeping with us at the time so he just came to bed with me.
Lessons learned:
* Don't keep children up much past their bedtime
* Don't leave beloved pillow behind
* Comic relief works in tense moments
* Going to the boat is a lot of work but Jack clearly loved it
Haha, I know what you mean about the timing of comedic releif, it helps. =) Sounds like a fun trip though!
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