Roadtripping

Alright, I'm going to do this in chapters, because there is too much to talk about in regards to my California trip. I don't want to wear you all out.. or me either.

On a beautiful Friday evening, Ben and I packed up the van and waited with baited breath for Audrey's bedtime. Our brilliant plan was to give her a baby nightcap (milk), put her in her pajamas and take her to her carseat which was reclining in a friendly way in the van. Yes, it was brilliant. You see, we've done it before and it worked like a charm... of course, that was 9 months ago... and she wasn't a toddler back then... or loudly opinionated.
Anyway, the nightcap, pajamas and carseat went well and we hit the road with smiles on our faces; me dreaming of the oceans, Ben dreaming of Disneyland and Audrey not dreaming at all.. which is most likely why about an hour into the trip she decided that she was no longer amused and wanted her crib. For the next two hours she proceeded to explain to us, rather urgently, that if she didn't get to her crib ASAP, she would do her best to single-handedly bring about the insanity of both of her parents. In exhaustion, she left us teetering on the brink and snoozed for two hours. Bliss.

After the two hour intermission, she regaled us with her rendition of "Eine kleine Nachtmusik in Scream Major." At that point, whichever one of us was driving (I can no longer remember who) rather smuggly put on headphones and listened to their MP3 player... The passenger was left to try to calm Audrey down and silently go batty. After another two (three?) hours, the budding vocalist wore herself out and gave us another couple of hours of mentally healing quiet. The rest of the trip is a bit of a blur to me. I do, however, recall getting into the outskirts of L.A. and wishing wholeheartedly that I wasn't the one driving, as the lanes were narrow and the early morning commuters were already on the lookout for their next homicide.

The moment we pulled into Jennifer and Andy's driveway, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and melted just a little. I didn't get a nap though... their house was just about to get up and start their day... Andy was already out golfing.