Woweeee, what a whirlwind week we had last week! I road tripped with the girls to Savannah, Georgia (Richmond Hill for those who are familiar with the area!) to see one of my best friends, Jessica (we met while teaching next door to each other in Tennessee – fun, right?!) It was so exhausting but so much fun and absolutely worth every “out!” that Sadie screamed at me from her car seat (which was a lot of “outs” by the way).
Jessica also has two daughters, one them being a nine month old that I hadn’t met yet! In fact, we hadn’t seen each other since Sadie was three weeks old, so we were way overdue for some “Erica and Jess” hang time.
We left straight from the girls’ ISR lessons on Tuesday, which made for a long day. Without stops, the trip should have taken about seven hours, but Sadie was a handful and wanted frequent stops to get out and run around. We didn’t have any reason to necessarily rush, so I tried my best to be patient and stop roughly every two-ish hours.
Wednesday
Since Jess’s girls were obviously asleep when we arrived on Tuesday, Hadley was dying to see them first thing Wednesday morning. We lounged all morning as the kids played with toys and eventually mustered up the energy to take them to the neighborhood pool.
This was our first time to swim outdoors this year, and we had so much fun! We had the pool area all to ourselves both days, so we were able to easily watch the kids and have a good time. The walk-in area was fantastic for my girls, who aren’t wearing puddle jumpers since we are in the middle of ISR (puddle jumpers and the ISR program majorly clash, and for good reason because they defeat the point of kids learning to float on their backs via the program.)
The sunshine felt incredible, and we had such a good time being around the water.
Since everyone was wiped out from a day at the pool, we hung at home that night, letting the kids play a bit more before bed. Hadley can pretty much sleep anywhere, but Sadie was obviously out of sorts with her bedtime routine. Y’all know she is such a clown, so her bedtime stall tactic one night was to tell me she wanted to sleep outside. Okayyyy… so we went outside, she laid down, and proceeded to just stay there for 10ish minutes until I dragged her inside because this game wasn’t funny anymore. She is something else!
I don’t think all four girls were successfully asleep until 9:30 or so, so once they crashed, we crashed too!
Thursday
All three mornings started with a ton of loving on baby Ella from not only her sister Mia, but also Hadley and Sadie. She was a popular one and didn’t hate it!
After a couple hours spent lounging around, we headed to a local park to participate in Jessica’s fitness group called S.L.A.M. She’s been telling me for years what a great workout it is, and she wasn’t lying! Definitely enjoyed it!
After working out and letting the kids play on the playground, we headed to a local doughnut shop for a sweet treat because #balance. 😉 Hey, just like working out isn’t just for shedding pounds (it’s equally good for the mind!), getting doughnuts isn’t just to have a snack (it’s a fun social activity too!) At least that’s how I justify it. 😉
After nap time, we suited up and headed right back for a full afternoon at the pool. We couldn’t get enough!
With four kids under five years old, laying low and doing simple, kid-based activities was really all we wanted our trip to be about. I’ve been to Savannah a couple times (most recently last June for a wedding at Forsyth Park), so I wasn’t super interested in doing anything touristy. I just wanted to see my friend, hang with her kiddos, and break up some monotony for my girls at home. Mission accomplished!
We know our girls will grow up visiting each other, so having them all together for the first time was fun. They fussed over toys like all kids do, but we know it’s only going to get easier from here as they get older, and we can’t wait to watch how their friendships surely take shape with each sweet trip we take.
Friday
We ate breakfast and packed up pretty quickly on Friday since we knew we had a big day ahead of us!
After hugging goodbye and promising to never go two years without seeing each other again, we headed home. We had one very important stop to make on the way though, and that was to meet two more babies: the newborn Clark twins.
I’ve talked about Bethy for years and years on this blog, but in case you don’t know her, she’s one of my closest friends from college. We four DeSpains absolutely adore her and her husband Bradley, and having to wait almost three months to meet her newborn twins about killed me! We only stayed at her home a couple hours, but it was long enough for me to hold and rock both babies to sleep and catch up with Beth as much as possible.
Do you remember our visit to Bethy’s last summer right after they built their chicken coop and got their chicks?! Hadley has been asking to go back for 10 months! Betty’s mom was so sweet to come over and entertain the girls while I loved on Bethy and the boys, and oh my goodness… my girls were in Heaven playing outside with the chicks!
I left her driveway with tears in my eyes as I just admired her in her beautiful house, with her beautiful babies, and what a beautiful life she’s built. I just adore her!
As far as the trip home goes, let’s just say I passed off the kids to Jamie the second I got home and didn’t speak to them again until I kissed them goodnight. LOL. I needed a dang break! Hadley could not have been one ounce better behaved (she has always been my pro car traveler), but Sadie… Lord help me. She is such a handful. I love that girl, but she about broke me with her chattiness and indecisiveness about what she needed to make her happy. We all made it home in one piece though, with a load of happy memories to hold onto for years to come.
These types of trips may seem like a hassle with little ones, but one day our kids won’t be so little and traveling will be easier, and I don’t want my tight friendships to fizzle in the meantime though. And it’s not like they are “bad” during our travels; They’re just kids being kids! I’ll always be for “travel with kids” over no travel at all. Hadley said over and over that our week in Georgia was the best week ever, and though we didn’t do anything overly special to outsiders, we did spend good quality time with people we love, and that doesn’t have a price tag to me. <3
Let’s chat!
Do you ever travel by yourself with your kids? What are your survival tips and tricks?!
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Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo