Weekend before last, the family packed up the Santa Fe and headed west to Laguna, CA. Lindsay's friends from college were throwing her a baby shower, and since throwing one for her here in AZ wasn't in the cards, we wanted to make sure to share in the baby Del Chiaro love and attend the one there. We were excited to show Ellie the ocean for the first time, as well as try a house rental through VRBO for the first time. All in all, E did really well in the car both ways (it's about a 6.5 hour drive after making feeding stops), the shower was lovely, and the weather was fantastic. Ellie got to see the ocean (which fascinated her), get in a swing for the first time (which she loved), and Brad and I got some much needed one on one time in the car to just catch up on life and reconnect. The most memorable part of the trip, however, is something I want to be sure to record so we can continue to laugh about this for years to come. We left later than we intended to on Friday, and so Lindsay warned us we might hit some traffic once we got into CA. We crossed into CA and were moving right along...until we weren't. We were completely stopped and by the time it was all said and done had traveled 6 miles in an hour and a half. A few things were making this hour and a half challenging. First was that both Brad and I had to pee. Badly. And of course, with that much time lapsing, Ellie got hungry. Or more appropriately described, HANGRY. At one point, Brad just bailed out of the front seat and sat next to her in the back in an attempt to stave of some of the wailing with face time. (It worked for about 5 minutes.)
So what are parents to do? There was no exiting, as we could see the line of cars trying to get on the highway was just moving just as slow as we were already on the highway. So...
I pulled onto the shoulder. We put 'er in park and put the flashers on. Because the cars were moving so slowly, there was no way I could have squatted outside the car, so instead I squatted on the passenger side floorboard and relieved myself in a 32 ounce up (which I basically filled). I remarked to Brad as I was in the process of peeing (with no spills, I might add) that it was a good thing I'd spent the last 10 months regularly peeing in a cup at the doctor's office, or it could have gone much worse. The cup was emptied outside, handed to Brad (who at this point is still in the backseat), and he proceeds to fill it. Twice. Crisis #1 averted.
Next, we unbuckled the child, brought her to the front seat, and I breastfed her on the side of the road. Classy. And I think every car that passed got a good look at my goodies. At that point, I could have cared less. Crisis #2 averted. However, the resolution of crisis #2 brought a new crisis - a very stinky diaper. With no trunk space to use (it was completely packed), and a front seat useless (they're bucket seats so slope towards the back), we did the next best thing. I changed one of the fullest diapers we've seen in my lap. Yep, which meant legs were kicking and flailing, which meant poop was all over her, and then all over me, and a little on the car. Once we were all wrapped up (pun intended) with crisis #3, we buckled her back in and were back on our way. The best part is that about 3 minutes back on the road, the mess (which wasn't traffic at all, but an overturned semi) completely cleared and there were no fewer than three exits to the next town all with lovely gas stations, fast food restaurants, etc. Sigh.
I am beyond blessed to be married to someone who from the moment the crises started to emerge, just laughed with me. What else is there to do? We stayed calm, cracked jokes, and LAUGHED the entire way through. And now I'm not concerned at all should a similar crisis arise - I know we'll handle it with a sense of humor.
Ah, the joys of the family roadtrip and the memories they provide. A link to all the trip photos is here. A video of peanut's first time in a swing is below :)
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