Back in the Saddle Again

We're back from our extended Easter trip to Idaho to see my fam. A few dos and don'ts to recap our trip.

Do:
-pack a lot of trip entertainment for the car. Our portable dvd player is about as cheap as they come (we got it for free as a "reward" when we bought some furniture probably 5 years ago), but it sure helps with the car ride. Good trip snacks, some music, and delaying pulling out any entertainment for the first hour were also key to our success.
-find a surprising lack of melt-downs in the car. Hooray for the kids pulling through on that one.
-spice it up to make visiting family a little more exciting. A trip to the zoo one day was just the trick. A trip to one of my most favorite Boise destinations, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and candy counter helped with the next day.
-let the kids share a room. Even though they weren't sleeping nearly as well as usual, they were having a great time! The first night Addie "sang Sam a song, got him a cuddle toy, and rubbed his head to help him go to sleep." (her words, not mine) What a sweet sister. Another morning she informed us that Sam didn't sleep all night because even though she was asleep, she heard him.
-enjoy a little jam session by your brother and one of his band friends. So excited his band won a competition last night and gets to open at BSU's spring fling for Reel Big Fish and another headlining band. Addie was slow to warm up, but was clapping away by the end.
-make delicious rolls, red potatoes, roasted asparagus, and grilled honey mustard pork loin for Easter dinner. And then eat no less than 3 rolls.
-watch your kids loving their uncles. And then wish their uncles were married and had kids of their own-imagine the cousin fun. And then realize it will probably be a while before that happens.

Don't:
-stay with a dog if your kids are afraid. My mom's poor dog was banished much of the time and not happy. My kids were not happy whenever he was around. We have got to conquer this.
-remove some of what's in the car when loading up and forget things. The Easter bunny had to make an extra trip to Target on Saturday night, where there were not even eggs left. The kids benefited from the Easter bunny visiting them in Idaho and Utah, since all of his loot was still in the garage.
-drive home in snow. It's just miserable and makes the drive seem even longer.
-let Sam fall asleep in the car for 5 minutes every afternoon, thinking that would suffice as a nap. It did not suffice.
-attempt to send out Easter cards the morning you're leaving town. Be much more prepared.
-forget to call your neighbor you take to church each week to tell her you won't be there. When you get back and hear her message wondering if you're coming, you'll feel really, really bad.
-road-trip while 6 weeks pregnant. It's not fun to be on the road when the all-day-sickness is setting in.