My philosophy with driving is to do nothing. Every once in a while I will turn on a kids cd if the boys seem to be a bit too stir crazy, but I think it is good for children to be still or learn to be still and not over stimulated. I want my boys to stare out windows, look at the cars around them and enjoy the view. Lately we have been playing "I spy" and I love all the creative responses I have been getting from both boys with that game in the car. I have owned a car with a dvd player for a year now and we have NEVER used it; it could be broken for all I know. I am waiting for our next LONG drive, meaning 6 hour drive to use it. That's coming up in a couple weeks.
So when we go to Huntington Beach for the morning my boys don't even break a sweat. As a matter of fact on the way down Elliot kept exclaiming about all the different cars he saw and Erik was telling me all about Enzo's house and what he would do there. So a playdate with good friends 35 miles away is worth it, of course we hadn't been there in about 4 months but that is not the point...
I am really enjoying watching our boys match up. Today Elliot just did his own thing, while Erik dragged Enzo along on his adventures. Eventually I have to explain to Erik that Enzo was a bit younger and couldn't do the more complicated activities he had planned, but he definitely tried. I also love being around this friend because with the exception of a few minor details we are just so similar in the way we handle things. All of her toys stay outside and inside, we don't care if they go back and forth and her door stays open so the boys can just go back and forward between inside and outside, exactly how I do it!
Unfortunately my friend owns a cat and Erik has been having asthma like symptoms to cats. So we stayed for an hour before we headed out for lunch and some ice cream. I have no pictures at lunch because it is rather chaotic with two moms and three toddlers, but I do have to say the boys were amazingly well behaved. Erik has just been listening and behaving so well lately and Elliot follows whatever Erik does so it is a dream taking them out. We have also been practicing at restaurants a lot so they are use to eating out and its not a nightmare anymore to take them.
Afterwards I bribed Erik with Pinkberry which of course worked since he is on good behavior today. I had been thinking for a while that Elliot might do well with his own ice cream cone so I took a chance and just did it. He was surprisingly clean and hardly dripped. I did end up putting most of the ice cream in a cup and letting him eat the cone, but definitely something I'll do again!
Then after our 3 hours were up we had to say good-bye after running around to burn off the ice cream and drove home. It started off insanely smooth, Elliot fell asleep within 10 minutes of being on the road then the famous last words, "I have to go potty" and we still have 30 minutes left. I really did take a moment to decide if I really would stop, ELLIOT WAS SLEEPING and I was by myself, then I heard "Mommy I am having trouble keeping the poo poo in," so I knew I had to stop. I choose the worst exist with nothing but a Ralph's to stop in. Dragged both kids into the grocery store and of course Elliot wakes up.
From there is just goes down hill, both kids are over tired and they are egging each other on. I lost it a few times in frustration because I knew Elliot needed his sleep. Then of course with 10 minutes left to go Erik sleeps, but not Elliot. UGH! So I drove around for an extra 15 minutes in my neighborhood willing Elliot to give in to sleep. It worked. So we ended the day with two sleeping kids and mommy getting her valuable me time in. Couldn't ask for more honestly.
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