  Last weekend I drove to San Antonio to meet family for what's become the annual urlLink Final Four pilgrimage . It was the first roadtrip I've taken with the two kids by myself. Before the kids, I was all about the solo adventures, and Aidan and I had some fun two-somes, but since we had Ellie, I've cowered a little. I wasn't sure what I'd do if the kids needed me and I didn't have John to swivel around and solve all their problems.
But with John going to Germany, and with air tickets to Germany hopelessly overpriced on account of Easter, I decided to pack the kids in the car and head out. One little factor made this a ridiculously easy task: we finally turned Ellie around to forward facing in the car. I know the studies, I know she's safest rear facing for several more months, that the turn at one year thing is a government minimum, not an optimal. But having them both face the same way is so much easier! They can both watch the DVD, which means they both sit motionless and quiet for hours at a time. This is definitely one of those loosening of values things that happens with each additional kid, because we kept Aidan rear facing until 18 months. The only negative we have now with her forward facing is that I can't just crawl into the back en route, strap myself in, and nurse her.
But since I was driving alone, that wouldn't have been an option anyway. With the kids lost in the DVD, I had the open road to myself. It was so much fun! I love roadtrips (I must, right? This was my third big roadtrip this month! ), especially with John because we have such a great time on our adventures and we spend the hours in the car catching up or just quietly holding hands, but I forgot how much I love just catching up with myself, too!
The only difficulty was holding my bladder after thoughtlessly drinking tea because getting everyone out for the bathroom sounded too hard: trampling into a public bathroom with Ellie on my hip and Aidan by the hand, followed by wiping Aidan, again with Ellie on the hip, then peeing myself with Ellie on my lap. As soon as we arrived, though, Ellie turned up her cutesy shyness, not letting go of mama to save her life, so I still ended up peeing with her on my lap! 
