Clara and I left bright and early for Pecos on Wednesday the 19th. Scratch that. It was dark and early. I wanted to get through Houston before rush hour so we left at 6 am.
Before leaving the house, I gave Clara her first dose of Claritin. Her pediatrician recommended it to hopefully keep her from getting sick while on vacation. She gets sick everytime we go, so this time I had my arsenal of defenses ready. I planned on giving her Claritin every day, saline drops in the nose at night and running a humidifier at night.
So we hit the road. My plan was to stop west of Houston for some McDonald's. Well, I got just outside of Houston and the child pukes.
Lesson #1-- Do not give your child medication (especially for the first time) on an empty stomach and then plan to throw them in the car.
Lesson #2-- Do not leave home on a road trip without paper towels. I usually stock up for just such occassions but forgot them this time.
I exited the interstate for cleanup. I cleaned her up as best I could with wet wipes. Her clothes and diaper were soaked so I had to dig into her suitcase, while still dark and chilly out to find her some new ones. Her straps were still damp and would've surely soaked through to her clothes, so I improvised and wrapped a pair of my socks around them to soak up the moisture. This picture also showcases the footrest I fashioned for her myself. I thought that her dangling legs might be why she gets upset close to the end of our trips and starts chewing on her feet. They can go numb from poor circulation due to just dangling, so I made this with a rolled up blanket and shelf liner and I think it may have worked.
I went to get back on the interstate, but the access road dead-ended, so I couldn't get back on going the right direction. I had to backtrack a few miles before turning around. Despite a rough start, the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We made good time and pulled into Pecos at 4:30.
Here are a few random shots from the week. Most of the trip was spent hanging out watching the kids play. Getting dirty in the backyard is definitely the favorite activity of those under 4 feet tall. Wyatt and Clara loved playing together. Wyatt loves to hug, but usually can't find a willing participant, so he relished having Clara around. They were so cute. Clara shared her dress up shoes and bunny and Minnie Mouse ears with him, too. I was considerate of his future feelings and didn't take a picture.
Thursday we went to the park and zoo for lunch and playtime with Bia, Myrt Myrt, Clayton, Tanya and the boys. Here, Aunt Myrt is trying to corral all the little ones while the other adults sat in the shade and snapped pictures.
Friday, Tim and Linsey arrived for the weekend and we decorated cupcakes and easter eggs. The last one is Clara biting into a boiled egg.
Saturday we went out to the farm for our Easter egg hunt. The farm is where my grandpa lives. It's out in the country down a long dirt road and isn't really a farm, per se. It's more of a junkyard. Big John is a collector of junk. The farm, with its rusty tractors, unidentifiable equipment and old broken down vehicles provides endless hours of fun for little ones. We haven't had an Easter egg hunt out there since Memaw died, so it was suggested we do that this year. It's a good thing we did it the day before because it was wet and cold on Sunday.
Easter egg hunts out at the farm are not your typical egg hunts. It's like extreme egg hunting. You're gonna get dirty. And there are sure to be eggs that were overlooked and are found months from now, especially when you allow my cousin John to hide some of them.
The six of us hanging out
On Sunday, we rumaged through our Easter baskets, went to church, tried to get a group pic and had lunch at Joe and Myrt's.
I got packed up on Monday, ready to drive to Midland at 5 am the next morning. Clara and I were flying from Midland to Albuquerque to visit Chris' parents for a week.
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