Lots of Characters, Lots of Firsts but Lots of Drama: Why We Say NEVER AGAIN!! 3/21

[Disneywedding2010]

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Your daughter is beautiful

 

[Overexcited]

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[kmrein]

Hi, I'm looking forward to reading more - I appreciate an honest TR.

Your daughter is such a cutie, by the way!

 

[Charlefours]

Great update. You guys did really good on your first travel day. I love the pictures of Lily opening her surprise gifts.

Thanks Kathy

 

[Charlefours]

just finished your PT while ago and cant wait to hear all about it.

to my TR! I am glad to have you here. It was very kind of you to read my PTR!! I know it got to be quite long.

 

[Charlefours]

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Rachel to my TR! I am happy to have you here.

 

[Charlefours]

I'm subbing

Your daughter is beautiful

to my TR! I am happy to have you here. Thank you so much! I think she is but I am biased.

 

[Charlefours]

I am joining in!

to my TR! I am happy to have you here.

 

[Charlefours]

Hi, I'm looking forward to reading more - I appreciate an honest TR.

Your daughter is such a cutie, by the way!

to my TR!! I am happy to have you here. Thank you!

 

[Charlefours]

Second Travel Day, 9/10: Evansville, Indiana to Valdosta, Georgia

Before Dad had left, I asked him to give me a call and let me know when he was off from work. I got a call right before 2:00 a.m. from him. I got up and into the shower. I woke DH up after I finished and he got into the shower.

Drama Incident one:

My Dad has had my brother living with him for a while now. Evidently we got down the day before; they got into a huge fight. My Dad had to write a big long letter, which I just had to read at 2:20 in the morning. It’s not that I don’t care but my sister and I had been telling him for a good six months my brother has been using him and he would have to let him grow up and be out on his own. (Oh, my brother will be 35 at the end of the month). He could not stop talking about this the whole way down! Needless to say DH and I were a tired of it. I finally told him at some point to just stop thinking about it so he could enjoy his vacation. He would be away from him for two weeks.

Sorry if that sounds horrible and mean, but my Dad has this horrible habit of going over things again and again that it gets old fast. There were times when he thought about it so much, he was in a rotten mood and difficult to be around.

After all of this, Lilian woke up about 2:30 a.m. We had dressed her in her traveling clothes the night before again. We had her go potty and we were off by 2:45 a.m. (Central time).

We stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s in Henderson, Kentucky at 3:20 Central time (Dad bought breakfast but I want to say it was $22). Lilian, of course, did not fall back to sleep. We made our first potty stop at a Wal-Mart somewhere in Kentucky at 4:50 (Central Time). Here is Lilian, enjoying her juice box:

It was also at Wal-Mart Lilian got her first treat bag of the day (number three):

We also switched our antenna topper to be a Princess one:

(picture was taken later during the drive, but you get the gist)

We kept driving and eventually we passed through the Nashville area about 6:00 a.m. Of course I took pictures of the skyline:

(sorry it is blurry)

This was my Dad at this point:

It was actually quite funny because he woke up after we got through Nashville. Sat up and said we should be passing through Nashville at any point. DH and I had to chuckle because when we told him we already had, he could not believe it.

We ended up pulling into a rest area in Tennessee about 8:00 a.m. (Central time). We spent some time stretching our legs and going potty. Lilian played for a bit:

So what was Lilian doing? Well, I can tell you she did not play with what rest area stuff we brought. She spent the time collecting acorns:

Hey, she was happy and having a good time so that is what mattered to us. After a good twenty minutes, we were off again to keep making our way to Georgia.

Continued in next post

 

[Charlefours]

I ended the previous post at the point of when we got back into the van to continue onto Georgia. Along the way, of course I took some more pictures of the countryside and clouds:

We ended deciding we were hungry, so we found a Cracker Barrel in Dalton, Georgia. We pulled off at 10:15 (all times from here on will be in Eastern time zone). All the adults elected to have the Harvest Breakfast Specials and Lilian had her eggs and bacon. Total came to $44 with tip. Lilian got her second treat bag for the day (fourth overall) after finishing up at Cracker Barrel.

Afterward, we went to get gas. Filled up and got some drinks, total cost was $48. We were off again. It was not long before we were heading into Atlanta:

So I looked back to see what my Dad and Lilian were up to and I saw this:

(Lilian obviously had another Crustable. Those sandwiches were a lifesaver!!)

We were very surprised and happy with the lack of traffic through Atlanta. Everyone told how bad it was going to be and we had prepared ourselves for the worse but it really was not too bad.

Shortly after finishing up Atlanta, Lilian and my Dad woke up. Dad looks around and said well, we should be getting to Atlanta at any point. DH and I just thought this was too funny. He said it the exact same way he did when he woke up after Nashville earlier in the day.

It did not take long before we stopped at the rest area in Macon, Georgia. I took this really cute photo of DH and Lilian:

Lilian must have decided she was tired of being in her car seat at this point, because right when we decided we were going to get back on the road, I saw this:

It was about 4:15, so I did what all parents do (but we don’t like to admit it) I bribed her with her next treat bag! We gave Lilian her last treat bag for the day (fifth overall) and hit the road again.

We arrived at the hotel in Valdosta, Georgia about 5:00. DMIL, DFIL and DBIL had arrived about half an hour prior to us—not bad timing at all! We walked over to the Cracker Barrel (for those of you counting, yes this was our second stop at Cracker Barrel today). What we ate:

DH: same thing he had on the way down
Me: veggie plate with carrots, green beans, fried apples and mashed potatoes
Lily: mac n cheese and green beans

Sorry I do not remember what the others had for us. Cost $0 as my Dad paid for it. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to watch the game that was on for that night. I have gave DFIL his packet of information since I had not seen them to give it to them. However the day had caught up to us so we headed off to bed at 8:15 p.m. We were so close to Disney!!!

Daily Breakdown
Total miles today from Evansville to Valdosta: 639 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 1117 miles
Total Money Spent on Food: $44 (since Dad paid for breakfast and dinner)
Total Money Spent on Gas: $48

Up Next: Traveling to Disney: Day 3--We finally arrive!

 

[disney<333]

Lilian does a lot better than my girls on car trips. It takes 3 hours to get to Disney and they are restless after an hour and a half.
Yay for hardly any traffic.
Love me some Cracker Barrel.

 

[KatMark]

Yay, another update! Lillian is just too cute and has the prettiest smile. I like the pic of her and your dad sleeping in the back seat. I understand what you mean about your dad and going on and on about the same thing...my mother is the same way at times and you just havfe to tune them out after awhile.

You did great with Atlanta; we always left around 3 a.m. from Atlanta just to miss the traffic.

I sent you a PM...I started my TR if you want to join.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

fun update! love the acorn's...we think, as parents, we are going to keep them busy and surprise us with their own curiosity. My mom does like your dad and harp on the same topic over and over...mmmmm....Cracker Barrel, haven't had that in a while may be time for a visit soon... Ashton and Dayne have always enjoyed their breakfast anytime of the day....

 

[wlwilliams9]

Woo Hoo! 2 updates today! Sounds like the drive down was uneventful and fun all at the same time!

I love the picture of Lilian sleeping is hilarious! It's funny how kids can sleep anyway and anywhere! I would have a wicked neck ache if I had slept like that!

Can't wait for more!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Hi Steph. I cant believe I never subbed to the report. I missed all the updates so far except the first. I am here now. I loved the report so far. I am feeling the suspense as you are getting so close to disney. I cant wait to hear more. by the way I was at your dad and his comments. Too funny.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

I'm tired already reading about your long road trips days & getting up so early

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hi Stephanie! Great report so far. Sorry you had drama...I had it too this trip.

I love your pictures. Lilian looks so excited each time she reaches into her treat bags. Very cute!

I got Lilian's card today. So cute!

Looking forward to reading more..

 

[pookersmom]

I've been lurking and thought I'd say hello. So... hello! My family drives everywhere because my husband is autistic and does poorly in airports. I think we've hit half the Cracker Barrels between home (Denver area) and Orlando. Hee.

 

[MaryAz]

Love the treat bag idea. Glad Ms L finally got some zzzz's It sounds like you handled the drama well. Tell ur Hubby not to worry about Oct- everyone will have their own thing going and bedisdes we are fun and crazy. And he if he wants he can tell us to get lost cause we aren't family