A Relaxing Trip to New York...of course, I am Kidding.

If you asked me to list enjoyable activities, traveling in a car for long periods with four children under 10, including two toddlers, would not even make the top 10,000. Nevertheless, that's what we did. The first day we it took us around 18 hours (but who's counting?) to drive from our house in FL to Philadelphia. Ah the City of Jacked up Hotel Rates and No Parking Brotherly Love. We relaxed in a lovely Best Western and ate (what I can only imagine) scrambled eggs rejected from local prisons and public schools. Then we jetted off to The Franklin Institute. We would have been there when it opened but instead we drove circles up and down a dimly lit parking garage while (and I am not making this up) macabre circus music played on loudspeakers in every corner. We finally arrived at the museum only to realize that we had nary a stroller. There are, of course, no stores in the city, only overpriced fruit stands.

I did what any parent in such a situation would do.

I played my daughter's heart condition card and got us a wheelchair to cart them around ("Tali, cough a little. Stop looking so perky" I'd whisper at the counter...)

(Here's where I would insert pictures of us at the museum. But the camera had gotten stashed somewhere among the Cheez-Its and the Melatonin).

After that we spent a night with some friends and headed off to NY (another 8 or so hours in the ever-shrinking vehicle).

Yes, I chose the picture of the children reading. The majority of the time was actually spent either watching movies on the laptop or eating snacks.

Bonus - we got to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lane - yay!

Despite all the driving and the staying at two hotels and three different houses, the kids did pretty well. One of our hosts told us she even bragged to someone about our kids behavior and how they quickly cleared the table after dinner. I nodded serenely, acknowledging the product of consistent parenting. I did not tell her how after dinner I quietly threatened the older two through gritted teeth:

"I swear, if you two do not clear this table politely and quickly you will get unfrosted Poptarts for Christmas this year. And possibly for the rest of your lives."

We had a great couple days with Matt's family. His Aunt and Uncle have an amazing house, like a spread in a Country Pottery Barn magazine. We ate great food, including a corn roast which Matt grew up enjoying, and just spent time together. One of the main reasons we all went up was to see Matt's Grandma Dot (as she's affectionately called by our kids).

We stayed the last couple days in NY at Matt's best friend from high school and his family. His wife and I were treated to many tales of near-death experiences from their late teen driving escapades.

We took a quick jaunt to Niagara Falls, which was exciting for the first ten minutes or so.

Matt and his best friend (also Matt, same birthday). No one who knew them as teens would've guessed they would both end up professionals in suits.

On the way home we decided to break up the trip into two days. We treated the kids to a particularly horrific Golden Corral (after which Matt and I made a solemn vow to never, ever go to that restaurant again. Unless we are dying. And even then maybe not.)

We started off the trip passing out books and planning to show movies on a maybe four hour schedule. By the end, the movies were on continuous play. I've never felt such strong feelings of love for a computer as I do that old laptop. When it finally goes to the Radio Shack in the sky, we may lovingly bury in the backyard under a tree and lay DVDs on the site once a year in remembrance.

Glassy eyes, watching Pixar and waiting for the next round of Goldfish in a Dixie cup.

Overall, it was a good trip and everyone who hosted us was so welcoming and gracious (if you were one of them, you were of course our favorite. No question.) We tried to stay only 2-3 days at each house, much like the stomach flu. With four kids, it's a similar experience. We leave you exhausted and wondering what hit you.

We will probably make it a yearly trip. We even may go up with Matt's parents. Maybe they'll ride with us, maybe Matt and I will fly and they'll drive with the kids and we'll just meet up. Haven't worked out the details yet.