The eye of the storm

The kids and I just came back from spending a week with my parents in Toronto, ON. We met up with my sister Danielle and her darling baby Ruby (3 weeks older than Jacob).

Somehow I managed to survive the 8 hour drive with the kids. In fact, for much of the trip there, I felt like I was not only surviving but was, in fact, thriving. I remember looking at the clock at 4pm (after having been on the road all day) and wondering why so many people commended me for trying to accomplish such a daring feat.

Then I hit the eye of the storm, or perhaps better described in the plural: Toronto rush hour traffic on hour 7 of our 8 hour trip, pouring rain, car on empty, a screaming infant, a 4 year old who somehow got her seatbelt unbuckled and who couldn't buckle it again and so was screaming "The policeman is going to give me a ticket", a 2 year old who dropped his pacifier, AND no place to pull over.

I managed to find an on ramp with extra shoulder space and so pulled off to feed Jacob. While I was doing this, a tow truck pulled up in front of our van and a guy came out and popped his head in our window. I assured him that everything was fine though I'm sure he wasn't convinced. In fact I don't think the kids were convinced either. They were probably still processing some of the new four letter words that they heard me say. After this frantic feeding fest, rebuckling and pacificer reuniting, we got back on the highway and had the worst luck trying to find a gas station.

But, then we got to my parents. And then everything was fine. I'm 33 and it still feels so good to have my parents take care of me!

The ride home wasn't as bad. A 1/2 hour wait at the border and a few minor meltdowns here and there but overall, quite a fun adventure.