Twenty Two!!!

There is no place like home!  We returned home from our Christmas travels tonight.  It feels so good to be home.  Our kids run around the house with joy knowing that they are in a place they know, a place they feel safe.  Sleeping in our own beds feels so good!  The simple joys.

2014 has been filled with travel for our little family.  In fact today is day TWENTY TWO on the road for M and I and day 20 for T and Brandon.  That is right friends, we spent 22 days on the road this year.  It seems hard to believe.  Not that you don't believe me, but since I am determined to turn my blog into books soon (thanks for the gift card mom and dad) I am listing all our travels at the end of the post.  I realize this is not the most interesting post, but it will help make a memory. 

I want to clarify that these are all major trips which take 6 plus hours in a day.  I would say the average would be 7ish hours with at least five of the days having many more hours.  We did many other smaller trips to visit friends or for a little fall getaway etc, I am only counting the more major travels.

Yes, we are parenting two kids from hard places who thrive on routine.  Yes, trauma travels well.  Yes, we did over extend our kids several times.  We learned friends, we learned!  

We learned much in these travels.  The "number one" trip on the list below was our first time using a DVD player for the kids.  Life changing!  We could not have done all the traveling without it.

We learned that we can enhance our DVD collection by stopping at the library before traveling.  Daniel Tiger and Kipper yahoo! 

We also learned a lot about organization.  We keep things in bins for easy access.  DVD's have a bin.  Toys and books have a bin.  Snacks have a bin.  We have stocked bins when our journey begins.  We have plenty of supplies on hand at all times because easy access to wipes and tissues is crucial.

We learned about timing!  We learned that if we eat a super early lunch before we leave  homes and then a super late dinner when we arrive we can drive the whole way without stopping for a meal.  Stops are crazy and no fun so the less we stop, esp for meal, the better off we are.  Remember we have three people who can't really eat fast food so we have to prep, microwave, sit down and eat.  Not fun.

We have learned about unloading.  We time a movie to run past our arrival and then we keep the kids five point harnessed while we unload the van.  They are always spent and need to be held and tended to immediately after we unbuckle them.  It usually takes well under 10 minutes when we work at it together and the kids get to finish up their show.

We have learned that the quicker things get back to normal after we get home the better off we are the following day.  Tonight I got everything unpacked before opening up the computer.  Sure there will be laundry and errands tomorrow, but when the kids wake up the house will mostly look the way they imagine it to look and for my kids, this is huge.

Lastly we learned that 22 days in the van is A LOT and we have no plans to repeat it any time soon.  We have no big vacations or trips planed this year and we will scale back a bit on other travels to hopefully cut our travel days in half in 2015.  

2014 Travels:
1. Home from my family Christmas road trip but didn't return until after New Year's
2. To Smoky Mountains our house to Indy
3. Indy to the Great Smokies
4. Home all in one LONG day
5. Dad's retirement and hometown good-bye *just M and me
6. Home  *just M and me
7. Our house to Nebraska
8. Nebraska to Colorado Springs
9. Colorado Springs to Nebraska
10. Nebraska to Home
11. Summer trip to my family
12. Home
13. Summer trip to Brandon's family
14. Home
15. Grandpa's funeral
16. Home
17. Brandon's speaks at retreat near my parent's home
18. Home
19. Nikky and Jake's wedding
20. Home
21. Christmas with Brandon's family
22.  HOME!!!!!!!!!

There is no place like Home friends!!!!