We had planned on leaving for vacation the 9th after my husband got home from work - so around 4.  Well, the night before, my husband had to run to the store to buy a clam shell roof top carrier.  We had a soft one - cloth? vinyl? - but our stupid cat peed on it.  He doesn't like change, and he must have sensed that we were leaving.  Before we left, we needed to put the thing on our car.  Oh, what an ordeal that was!  It took us 3 hours to put it on!  First we didn't have the right drill bit, then we thought we broke the roof  rack.  Finally, it was all on, we were packed and starving and out the door we went.  We drove about 3 hours and stopped when we reached Iowa. 

Here are some pics of the kids in the car.

The adventure did not end when we got to the hotel. We arrived around 10 pm.  We unloaded the kids and the bags and headed in.  Princess C was scared because she was in a new place.  She would not sleep in her bed.  So she sat in bed with us watching tv (she has never been interested in tv before this).  Baby B didn't realize that it was bedtime.  He was awake and wanting to play.  Around 12:45 my husband fell asleep and C followed shortly.  I was awake walking around with baby B until 1:30.  He was up again at 2 ready to eat, and again around 5.  And then, of course, about 7 AM the older boys woke up.  Boy was I tired.  And that starts day #2.......