The terrible fours

*WARNING* Some portions of this post may be a little gross…proceed with caution.

No, J has not suddenly turned 4…

But this past weekend was certainly a group of terrible fours.

We left for Philly around 9:30 am on Saturday. I heard about a huge motorcycle ride happening in Virginia on Friday, but didn't think it'd impact us on Saturday - I was WRONG!

The annual ride, sponsored by America's 911 Foundation, honors each victim of 9/11. 1800+ bikers ride from Somerset, PA, down to the Pentagon and then back up to New York. They visit each site and honor the victims of the tragic events of 9/11.

I commend the dedicated the riders and their remembrance of that day.

But we spent about 4.5 hrs on the road with a less than happy 13-month-old, a vomiting 2-year-old Bichon, and a 11-week-old fidgety Bichon puppy. That's four terribles, right? It was NOT a good start to the weekend. I even "joked" with my husband that we should just turn around and go home.

J eventually recovered from the ride. He only napped an hour in the car but slept well that night...until 7 am on Sunday (yay!).

Poor Coco started vomiting Friday night, 3 am to be exact. We woke up on Saturday morning to find 5 dark spots on our bedroom carpet. GREAT. (The drawing below was inspired by one of the funniest parenting blogs.)

We are sleeping soundly until we are awaken by Coco vomiting all over our bedroom. Jasper is in his crate, whining, as usual. I thought sleep deprivation was over once J started sleeping through the night.

And the vomiting continued for the rest of Saturday. So we had our hands pretty full this past weekend.

J didn't want to leave my side the whole weekend. Why he suddenly so attached? I maybe got a half-hour nap on the sofa.

 J: Walk me around...everywhere!

Poor Coco (and the floor) needed to be cleaned up every hour or so - I'm so grateful my in-laws were so understanding.

We also had to keep an eye on Jasper so that he didn't (1) pee/poo in the house and (2) eat what Coco was leaving on the floor everywhere...ew.

It was like having 3 kids! I can't even imagine what it'd be like with 3 actual kids!

Anyways, our trip back to Maryland was a bit better - only 3 hours (as opposed to the GPS-reported 2.5).

Lessons: Pay attention to the news before a trip back to Philly in order to avoid a traffic jam. Don't travel with a sick dog. 

Oh, and to add to a previous post (traveling with small kids), remember to bring our E-ZPass. 

If you don't have one, get one (or similar product for your state of residence). 

It's so great NOT to have to (1) wait in long lines and (2) wake the baby by waiting in line and rolling down your window to pay like half a dozen tolls from here to PA - argh.