Sister Wives

Well, it has taken me about 2 weeks to get to the point of recovery from 27 hours in the car to rehash our trip to the Hamptons. Let me begin by saying that 13.5 hours in the car each way is a LONG time, but it is totally worth it to have the week that we had with our friends and their kids. We began our journey by waking the kids up at 5:30am and hitting the road. We took I-81 up through VA, WV, MD, and PA to get there. We scooted over through NJ and then headed straight through downtown Manhattan. Now, I have to tell you that driving through midtown NYC right past the Empire State Building was NEVER on my bucket list. Thank the dear LORD that I wasn't driving because I seriously would've had a wreck. I was the absolute worst back seat driver to my husband gasping and freaking out that he was either going to crash into another car or a person. The drive up to that point had been pretty easy...only two stops the whole way and very minor meltdowns. Then, we reached the Lincoln Tunnel and the baby kept pointing at her diaper saying "poo-poo, poo-poo." Seriously?!?! You couldn't have taken care of that when there was a nice rest stop or ChickfilA to stop at? Nope, it happened as we were pulling into Manhattan. Guess what? There's no way we were going to attempt to stop at that point...we got through the City and I did a little sniff test...yep, false alarm, so we muscled through. About 45 minutes from our destination my other child announced that he needed to go pee-pee. Good grief! I never understood people who made their children pee in bottles on long road trips...but I was prepared to do it! I was told that I should've brought pickle jars rather than water bottles...you know, less room for error. Luckily, it didn't get to that point...believe me, I was ready to try it, and we made it to the beach house without stopping (by the way, he completely forgot about it once we turned on a cartoon about sports...go figure!).

Upon arrival, we had tons of smiles and hugs to greet us. I must say, we were no worse for the wear from our road trip, and we were all in good spirits...the 2.5 hours out to the Hamptons after NYC gave my husband some time to forgive me and my panic attacks ;) Our hostess had dinner hot and ready for us, and we dined al fresco watching the kiddos play with their buddies, most of whom they hadn't spent time with in a couple of years and some of whom that had not yet met. We got the babes to bed and stayed up entirely too late laughing and catching up!

The next day started out with a little Soul Cycle excursion with my "sister wives." We had joked the night before about running into the Kardashians as they had a pop up Dash store in the next town over during the time we were there. Well, guess what? We walked in, took our place at our bikes, and we spotted none other than Kourtney Kardashian getting suited up for class...the next time we looked over, Kim was right there with her. We were all a little star struck to say the least (I'm really not even a fan, but it was fun regardless!). We headed to a local coffee shop after our workout, and low and behold, Kourtney and Kim were there again in their giant escalade with their mini-van security team behind them. We walked in and saw Kourtney waiting for their beverages...yep, we snapped a pic...obviously, we were fooling no one :)

That afternoon, we spent time with the kids and the husbands in the pool and playing baseball etc in the backyard and headed to the grocery store to get our goodies for the meals we had planned to prepare. Each family took a night of cooking, which worked out so well. Here was our menu for the week:
Baked Ziti and Salad
Crockpot Chicken Tacos, Quesadillas, Spanish Rice, Guacamole, and all the fixin's
Grilled Mini Meatloaves, Oven Roasted Corn, and Tomato Pie
Pasta Salad with Three Kinds of Gouda, Sundried Tomatoes & Arugula & an assortment of Pizza

We have done this trip with this same group of friends (10 adults and 10 kids at this point) three times now, and we sort of have it down to a science. The beauty of traveling with this crew is that we're all on the same page and the same agenda. We all have small children (the kids ranged in age from 9 months to 9 years,) and recognize the way of life that surrounds traveling with kids...naptime/downtime, early dinners, early-ish bedtimes, and early risers. We also all pitch in wherever needed to make things run smoothly. There were several times when I was putting the baby down for a nap when one of my sista wives was making my kids lunch, there was the night that we were in charge of dinner that another sister wife was my right had woman and the dads pitched in with all of the kids. There were multiple times when someone needed to shower, run an errand, or just attend to another child when we all took over parenting responsibilities of whoever needed taking care of. This is just the way this group works...like a well oiled machine...regardless of how much time has passed or how many kids have been added to the mix. It's controlled chaos at its finest and well worth 27 hours in the car to make the trip happen.

The memories of all of our kids playing together in the sand, chasing each other in the yard, playing cards, drawing and displaying their artwork, playing soccer on the beach and baseball in the grass are memories that will not soon be forgotten. We definitely stepped out of our comfort zone to make this road trip. I was a nervous wreck beforehand worrying about that much time confined in the car. There were meltdowns and fighting and sleeping in one hotel room with all the kids on the way home and losses of patience. These were the exception to our time in the car, however. Most of it was spent with the boys coloring and writing in their journal, with the baby being entertained with lots of new toys from the Target one spot (and one of us in the back entertaining her as well), with enjoying the gorgeous scenery of the drive, and with quiet moments while the baby napped and the boys watched shows (there were lots of them!). All of that to say, I had set myself up with low expectations for the roadtrip, and I was very pleasantly surprised with how it went....AND, it was obviously worth the effort to have an amazing trip with wonderful friends in the Hamptons. So, the next time something sounds overwhelming and like "too much," I hope that I will take a step back and remember this trip and weigh the benefits with the effort. Chances are, it will always be worth it!

Happy Summer and Happy Cooking!