We lub da eightieeeeees

Lengthy drives have been a real chore ever since the twins were born, but add Adrian and then Santiago to the mix, and we could be absolutely positive in adding a minimum of 25% more time to any trip planning. Feeding 4 kids on the road is no easy feat. Santi has to pee every time he swallows his spit. If Adrian so much as smells food, he has to poop. Strictly monitoring food/drinks doesn't seem to make much of a difference. It is what it is.  I actually think that we have on some level shied away from long distance travel in part due to anticipated exhaustion that exceeds our normal state of exhaustion and just feels too... well... exhausting.
We have driven no less than 50 hours on this vacation and have endured many minutes of lowering windows to air out farts, many bathroom breaks that also included emergency side-of-the-highway leaks, much arguing and complaining, and even some reprieves, such as the quiet camaraderie induced by iPad time (I mentally willed the boys to PLEASE not do anything to lose their screen time during this trip), hearing Santi holler "Hodey Tao" (Holy Cow!) and "Yook!" (Look!) whenever he sees something he finds amazing, short naps by all the boys here and there, and the soundtrack of Santi belting out various songs, including randomly singing "We lub da eightieeeeees" over and over thanks to XM radio's 80's on 8... how can that not make you smile even if you're still annoyed about the stale fart hanging in the air?
Anyway, as I type this, we are 2.5 hours from home and have just left one of my most favorite restaurants... the best BBQ anywhere, in my opinion. And, as I sit here and think about moving from one season to another with each child, it is obvious to me that we have entered another one... on this trip, no one has been nursing, no one is in diapers, and this is the first trip in 7 years that I did not get knocked upside the head by anything being slung from the back of the truck by an angry toddler. I'm actually torn between lamenting this and celebrating it... it's not easier, really; the challenges are just different. Santi is still always "TOE hundry, willy bad", so you either feed him snacks and anticipate another bathroom stop or you tell him to hold on and listen to relentless whining. Instead of babies crying out of boredom, they're picking fights with each other for entertainment. However, it's been such a fun trip with so many memories made. It's been an easier trip than we expected and worth every bit of the headaches. And also...
It's worth noting that I think we are actually down to just 20% extra time on this trip home... decent progress, I think. 

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