Mile after Mile

The kids and I loaded up the car and made a ten day trek around the Midwest.  I calculated the total mileage from each point A to point B (this did not include stops or general driving around town) and the total mileage was approximately 1600.  I drove 1600 miles in ten days with two kids...by myself.  I think the lack of sleep has made me crazy.  It went as well as could be expected until the last leg of the trip home.  I don't think we will be traveling anywhere too far away anytime soon.

It was really wonderful to see so many people and have people for Miss M to play with and entertain her while I focused on Mr. Man.  I am still struggling with learning how to balance two.  I think it is extra apparent how much I am struggling after getting back home and it just being the kids and I.  I think mainly I struggle with the guilt of not playing or engaging Miss M enough and letting her watch what feels like too much TV. I was feeling guilty today when I was feeding Mr. Man. Miss M laid on the spare bed in Mr. Man's room with her blanket in her mouth and when I asked her what was wrong she informed me she was "just sad".  Miss M doesn't throw tantrums like a normal two year old instead she kills me with guilt.  And she's good at it.  She slumps her shoulders, turns away sometimes to a corner, and gets really quiet. It's the saddest thing I have ever seen.  Therefore I have found her a babysitter for a couple hours a few days a week. Hopefully I feel less guilty and she is able to burn off some energy.

Anyway...back to our travels...I didn't take a lot of pictures but I have a few...

A loves all things babies...even the real ones.

When we were at Grandma and Poppy's house we walked to the neighbors and they let us pick out the clothes for their geese out front.  Yep, they dress two geese.  Miss M wanted to ride the goose like a horse

 Miss M got a few 'prizes' along the way.

She played in the pool while playing with O.  She now thinks there should be a pool at our house.  I don't think we will have one this summer...maybe next year.

She was in love with A's scooter. It was slightly terrifying to watch when she insisted she ride it down the driveway which had a downhill slope.

 Mr. Man just hung out.

 E took Miss M on wagon rides.

Overall, it was a great trip.  It didn't feel like we were traveling most of the time because we had our own space and beds which was helpful.  Usually E and Miss M play together quite well and they did this time to but with the Ohio kids in town for a few days E played with Ashleigh instead.  Miss M was fine playing by herself but the exciting part was there looks to be potential for Miss M and A to play together in the future!