The Great Trek to the Midland: Day Three

Day three: Peoria, IL to St. Paul, Minnesota! It’s been terribly frustrating these last three days to explain to the girls that we are indeed going to Minnesota, but that it will take a LONG time. When we hit the road in Baltimore I think it took all of 30 minutes before they asked if we were in MN yet. And then when we tried to explain the concept of staying in a hotel, not one but two nights, and in different cities- it wasn't exactly processing in their 4 year old brains. Or maybe they were just messing with us, which is quite possible. 

Today however, we were able to say that yes, when we are done driving we will be in MINNESOTA! The DVD player has been nice but we have only really used it once a day. I loaded their bags with new books (from the library, hopefully they stay in our possession, maybe that wasn't the best idea), and filled surprise bags with a few new goodies. The surprise bag they just got today, on day three. They have been really good, considering that they are, well, four. This is not to say that there haven’t been meltdowns; most the time involving a princess notebook  that fell on the floor, not being able to get something out of a purse, or a ponytail that isn't as secure as it was at the beginning of the day. Although, I can’t blame all the melt downs on my kids. My impatience hasn't always been a secret. I can only take so much of the continual asking why we are not in MN yet, even after I swear I explained it very clearly…at least 10 times. Or if I am hungry and there just seems to be NO viable options anywhere; all I can see are silos, corn, and billboards for things that are 70 miles away. Dave hasn't always been the happy pilot either, especially when someone is tailing us too close, the music isn't working correctly, or he just can’t find his sunglasses. But what can we expect on a three-day 20 hour road trip? I think by and large we did just fine. Oh, and I spent several hours catching up on this blog. Bonus.

So Minnesota, here we are for 3.5 glorious weeks! Please stop raining!!