Wernersville, PA to State College, PA: 238 miles, drive time of 2 hours and 38 minutes.
Potty breaks: 1; First fast food break (upon my grandmother's request); "Gummies": Too many (gotta make a girl behave for a wedding); Tears: buckets; Exercise: 40 minute run around Penn State + the wedding reception.
Someone was not ready to get up this morning. Can't say that I blame her.
Saturday was the day of my cousin's wedding, one of the catalysts for this crazy idea for a road trip. We figured that we couldn't drive north without visiting family, and we couldn't visit family without trying to find a way to make it to a major family function. There were some concerns expressed that maybe it'd be too much to make a kid sit in a car for umpteen million hours and THEN also make her sit still for a wedding ceremony, but this girl continued to impress her Mama and everyone else around.
The drive out to State College was brief, compared to previous legs of our journey so far. We had not planned on an Arby's stop but since it was my grandmother's idea I was polite and played along. I do miss their fries. But I was good and got myself a salad. I decided to treat my girl to some chicken fingers, which came with apple slices and yogurt dip. What I expected to be crappy - the chicken - was halfway decent. What I expected to be good - the yogurt - was this pink, WAY overly-sweetened gelatinous goo that in not way resembled yogurt in taste, smell, or texture. Surprised to be disappointed by a fast food kid's meal? Not really.
We arrived in plenty of time for the ceremony and fortunately, without any traces of our meal on our dresses.
By this point, though, I was starting to feel that nagging butt pain (my tailbone) that I get from sitting too much, which I think I may have mentioned out loud a few too many times because now my daughter was starting to complain, "My butt's sore!" too. But with promises of multiple gummy worms on the horizon, I was able to negotiate with her and keep her still during the nuptials.
For the first time this trip, however, I felt I was pushing my luck trying to keep her still and well-behaved for even another minute, so the second we could split after pictures, we headed to the nearby Inn to check in, change, and then bolt for a run.
Parenting Tip: If you don't have a jogging stroller, here's reason #147 why you should. When you have an over-tired child who refuses to nap, insisting, "I NOT TIRED!!!" just take her for a run...
... and take a moment for yourself to enjoy the scenery:
After a quick shower and getting dolled up once more, I was able to take a fairly well-rested child to the reception and I was able to enjoy the buffet and perhaps a little Knob Creek with significantly less guilt than if I had not had the opportunity to run!
But for good measure, we were sure to hit the dance floor as soon as we could for a little extra calorie burn!
Sadly, the party eventually came to an end, and it was time for bed, much to a certain child's disappointment. This is when the buckets of tears were cried. I mean, you would have thought I'd ripped up her favorite stuffed animal, she wailed so hard. But I was already that mom who kept her kid up past 11:00PM just to enjoy a few more minutes of celebration, so it was time to go!
At the end of the day, though, ALL of the kids had fun, even the grown ones.
Do you like to bust a move on the dance floor?
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