1600 miles in a sedan with twin toddlers: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The night before our trip, I said to Jon we needed to agree to not fight on the drive and to make the best of anything crazy that happened. I think agreeing to this set the tone for the trip. As usual, I planned like crazy. I read blog posts. I read travel advice websites. I made lists and lists and lists of lists.

It's not that I didn't believe the kids could make it. It's that we had a horrible, horrible traveling experience when they were 15 months old that scared us from plane travel for 10 months. In my head, I knew the worst case included vomiting and unending crying. And our flight had been four hours... this car ride was going to be 14 hours. And there is no option for an adult to get in back of our small sedan.

What I did not anticipate was Nate's desire to be a complete couch potato. As we found out on this trip, he will watch TV for 14 hours straight if we let him. Nate was in his own personal heaven - watching all his favorite shows, eating all his favorite snacks on demand, and someone occasionally changing his diaper. It sounds eerily similar to my version of heaven, although mine also includes some expensive red wine.

With Nate content, that left just Alex for us to keep happy. Alex's attention span was about two hours, so after that the passenger kept him happily bribed with snacks (licorice was a big hit as it is both a toy and sugary) and a series of new toys I purchased specifically for the trip. Biggest hit: $1 plastic Slinky. Biggest bust: Color Wonder markers thrown to the floor because they were "broken." Another hit: playing the recorder with my nose.

We stopped at rest areas every three hours to let the boys run wild and change diapers. Then we gassed up and bought new snacks, hit a drive-through for food to eat in the car, and changed DVDs. On the way back, it rained 11 of the 14 hours so we let them run wild in fast food places. Bad, I know, but somehow everyone found the twin factor very cute as the boys chased each other through Bojangle's. (For anyone tired of fast food while on a long car ride, Bojangle's is perfect as you can get mashed potatoes, biscuits, and mac and cheese.)

I spent a bit of time thinking about how to organize the car in our very limited space. The ipod and FM transmitter were in the glovebox for us. The DVDs were in the armrest for easy access. The extra snacks and drinks were behind the driver so the passenger could reach it. Everything else was in the trunk so we could be comfortable. Even with all the planning, we now understand why parents often choose larger cars.

As for products, here are my thoughts:

* Travel trays = awesome. While the boys used them to eat food, the most important use was to stop toys from falling to the floor. With the trays strapped on, it bought us a lot more time before Alex became impatient.

* Sippy straps = worthless. The boys undid the velcro in the first 10 minutes.

* Dual headrest DVD player + toddler headphones = PRICELESS! They watched their shows the whole time and we didn't have to hear any of it.

By far, the most important item of the trip was the movie Polar Express. I almost drove Jon insane looking for this movie ahead of our trip, but it was so worth it. The boys LOVED it and watched it countless times. I *think* they watched it SIX times on the way back. They watched it in the hotel room at night while we unpacked. They watched it in the morning while we packed up. When I asked their favorite part of the trip, they both said Polar Express.

The hotel travel was also very easy. Jon and I each slept in bed with a boy, trading off nights with restless-sleeper Alex for nights with sleeps-like-a-log Nate. When Alex got up early one day, I took him to hit the breakfast buffet for coffee and snacks then for a little walk around the property. They loved the elevator and they loved running around the room exploring everything from the phone to the AC buttons.

As for everything else, we let things slide. The boys barely ate any food the entire trip. Nate didn't nap any of the days. We resorted to driving around to let Alex nap two of the days, accounting for the other 200 miles of this trip. We were pretty lax about discipline, schedules, and structure and it felt pretty great.

After going on this trip, I really feel like we can do anything with the boys. I feel like we've made it to a new level with them and it feels spectacular. To sit in a car together for 28 hours and not hear one single minute of crying.... it went far beyond my expectations.

Tomorrow will be a huge picture roundup of an incredibly special trip to visit with family. Today I offer a sneak peek of the boys at my favorite beach in the entire world, Siesta Key, where the white sand is like sugar.

When Jon and I took a walk there on the morning of our wedding day and talked about our dreams for our life together, this is what I imagined. Nate ran right into the water and Alex chased seagulls and I almost cried from the sweetness of it all.