Family Road Trip, Day 1: Driving to Kentucky Sept 1, 2015

ROAD TRIP! Daddy had a business trip to Lexington, Kentucky and we decided to try making it into a family road trip. 

Before getting into the car for a number of hours, we let the kids run around outside while we packed the vehicle - our first big trip with the new Flex.

While playing, Henry made a discovery -
Henry: Mom, is that a mud puddle?
Mom: No, it's a shadow!

Helen decided to take advantage of her brothers being busy to get dibs on controlling the radio - in Micah's toy truck. She thinks she's hot stuff sitting in that driver's seat.

Just practicing for future road trips, Mom!

After the Flex was loaded up, we still had time to entertain ourselves while Daddy made a work phone call. So the boys came up with their own idea of how to share the cozy coupe.

On the way to the beach.

Finally, the little brother got a turn to relax while the older brother did the work of chauffeur.

And big brother did a little "reading" to little brother in the garage while waiting.

Finally, we were on the road - armed with a box full of books and some sweet shades.

Helen handled the trip pretty well. It was a bit over 5 hours of drive-time, but we needed a few stops.

Our first stop came at a park we found - because Daddy needed to make another work phone call. We knew that it would be unrealistic to expect the kids to be quiet in the car during the call (have you ever tried to talk on the phone with Mommy during the day when all three kids are awake?!), so we looked up a park on our way and got out to stretch our legs. We ran for a bit on the soccer field.

And then headed over to the playground. Later, we were entertained by the cross country team and soccer team as they began their practices (oh, but it was so hot out there to be doing sports!).

Helen didn't really get into the playground. But she found a shady spot to stretch her legs by holding onto the stroller (still not walking on her own yet).

Swinging!

Back in the car, the boys worked on various activities Mommy had packed for them.

We finally made it to Kentucky! We went to our very first Chick-fil-a for dinner, and the kids were happy to be able to play at the indoor playground there.

Our hotel was right next to the Rupp Arena, home of the Kentucky Wildcats, in downtown Lexington.

We also had a nice view out the window of Triangle Park (though the downtown traffic noise was something we realized we weren't used to).

Of course, the main goal for the boys in being in a hotel was to swim in the pool. So we made sure to get in a short swim before bedtime - and we had the pool to ourselves. It took Helen a long time to fall asleep (she's not used to sharing a room). While the idea of business traveling with kids didn't seem the simplest to Daddy, it was, nonetheless, a thrill for the rest of us (including Mommy, who loves visiting new places!).