Margaret and Max's Easter Adventure

Last weekend for Easter Max and I drove 4 hours to visit my family in Minnesota.  I was extremely nervous about driving all that way by myself with him as he's typically not the easiest in the car but the thought of staying here with Luke gone at hockey and my family in Minnesota forced me to go for it!

For weeks after I made the decision to go I prayed, planned and prayed some more :)  In the end my prayers were answered! and due to my obsessive planning all went well... except for a few minor hiccups.

My plan was to leave soon after Max woke up in the morning as he doesn't nap well in the car so I didn't want to risk him being over tired once we got moving.  The morning of our departure Max woke up an hour and 15 minutes earlier than normal and would not go back to sleep! Ugh!  I started to wonder if this was a sign of what was to come and second thoughts filled my head.  I pushed through my doubts and we were on the road almost right on time.  Max's early rising turned out to be a blessing in disguise as no further than 30 minutes into the drive...

After an hour nap and some snacks things were still pleasant in the car.  My parents had offered to meet me at the half way mark so that my mom could jump in my backseat to entertain Max.  This ended up working out perfectly as 5 minutes prior to our connection items began to be thrown and a melt down was imminent... In comes "GaGa" and all is well in the world again!  Max and "GaGa" had a great time playing and singing along to his Kindermusic CD the rest of the way there and I breathed a small sigh of relief.  The first leg of the trip was a success!

In comes the first miss hap of the weekend.  That afternoon my brother and his fiancee were loading up a moving truck as they were spending the weekend moving into their new home.  My dad was off assisting them and so left myself, my mom and Max to entertain ourselves.  What better place to do this than the park near my brother's new home.  Max had a blast and the park was great!  It wasn't until he started limping a little that I began to become concerned.  Then after a few more steps he started to crumble to the ground and physically could not walk any longer.  He didn't cry at all so I wasn't sure what the problem was but I knew that park time was now over.  We spent the evening carrying him around and trying to decide if we should take him in to see the doctor but in the end there was no swelling and he wasn't crying so we decided to see how things were in the morning.  True to his tough little boy form, he was perfectly fine the next day.  Must have simply twisted an ankle.  Of course he didn't want to sleep in his pack n' play that night and being that I wanted to be able to monitor him I allowed him to sleep in my bed.  Ok, the real reason was I'm a sucker for his sad face, however, we both slept great!

Max sleeping in the King Size bed next to the pillow barrier I set up!

The next day we headed off to the Mall of America with my cousin Katy.  Max was mesmerized by all the people and once he saw the Nickelodeon Universe it was all over!  He couldn't keep his eyes off of all the rides and action going on.  Every time he would hear a kid scream he would say "yeah!" and point.  I promised him that next time we come to visit his dad would take him on a little kid ride... I don't do rides.

In comes problem #2.  That night after playing all day at the mall and at my brother's new home Max was a little over tired.  It was more challenging to get him to sleep but he finally passed out again.  Only difference was this time at Midnight he woke up and started to have a full blown temper tantrum for at least 10-15 minutes (it felt like an hour!).  He didn't want his blankie, passie, sippy cup... NOTHING!  He simply screamed and covered his face with his hands.  My parents room was directly next door and my mom said she heard me threaten to move him to his pack n' play if he didn't quit.  Of course I never followed through with that.  In the end I'm not sure what got him to lay back down and go to sleep.  An hour later he tried to pull that crap again and I simply faked that I was sleeping and he calmed himself down and went right back to bed. :)

The next day we joined my brother and his fiancee at their church for an AMAZING Easter service.  Max played in the childcare... (until other parents started to pick-up their kids and then he cried until his face was dripping with tears and snot.)  I loved the contemporary music they sang and I knew every song!  I was so thankful for all of my prayers being answered so far regarding the weekend and also thankful for the ability to spend it with my family.

Max helping my dad load up the cars on Sunday morning.

All ready for church

The drive home ended up being ok as my parents drove with me to the half way point.  I was nervous to leave them as Max had already taken a nap during the first leg of the trip.  Again my prayers were answered.  First he played with his new favorite toy (below) then he fell asleep again! SCORE!  He woke up an hour before we got home but a few snacks (sugar cookies and Pringles- I would have shoved anything his way to keep him happy... don't judge!) and some traffic to watch he was a very content little boy until we got home.

Between the new VTech Learning Turtle electronic toy and this new toy he loved this one the most... go figures!