Adventures in anxiety

I was asked to go on a trip with a family whose Dad is military and unavailable to help with the kids.   And these are the days of our lives.  

*Name have been changed to protect privacy.

I arrive at about 7:45 with my teeny tiny bag, laptop and huge "stuff to do bag." The kids seem happy which is awesome for an 10,9,8, and three year old to be early in the morning before a ten hour car ride.  

Cathleen, the mom took the wheel first.   The first four hours pretty much fly by without incident and then we stopped for lunch...and the two children from the some of the hottest nations Thailand and Ethiopia were coming about the heat.   Goofy.  

Right after lunch Cathleen started to get very tired, and the three DS's I brought started to die.  Also, apparently in Oregon it is illegal for you to pump your own gas...lucky for us we found the only major gas station in a hundred miles and the only attendant was a crabby septegenarian...There are twelve or more double sided pumps and this cat is just leisurely taking his time...until you touch the pump then he's right next to you educating you on Oregon law.  

Oregon and Idaho are horribly boring to drive through.   The kids noticed this as well and I started getting  "Are we close?"  "Do your relatives live....HERE?"   And then the three year old with ADHD and ODD kind of reached his limit.  I mean any three year old is going to be super over riding in a car for that long...Landon has some sensory issues and he makes a high pitched scream, and because Landon has ODD it does no good to tell him to stop, because he likes doing it.   I am a very auditory person so every time he would make his noise I had a startle response.  Which is awesome on the freeway at 80 miles an hour.

Relax, the speed limit is 75.

Finally we get to Aunt Ginger and Uncle Tony's and everyone is just everywhere, understandable since we were crammed into a metal box.   Uncle Tony is doing burgers and dinner seems to be doing fine...Landon is still super over it. Cathleen asks if he wants to go to bed.   He does, so she starts getting him changed.  
That kid...manages to slip away from Mom butt naked and jump on the couch yelling "Boingy Boingy Boingy." While everyone else is having dinner.  At least the little guy is funny.


Everyone mostly went to bed without a fight.   And tomorrow it's only a 5-6 hour drive.