Four Boys and a Rainbow

I can't remember when my fear of driving first started to surface. I know that car accidents were probably at the top of my list of worries as a little kid, but I don't think I was particularly concerned about getting in an accident myself. I worried if anyone was late to come home, and I worried in anticipation of my parents going on long car trips without me. I didn't know anyone who had died in a car crash, and this made it seem all the more likely that it should happen to someone I knew sometime soon. After Lukas and Jasper were born, on our drive home from the hospital, my views on driving and cars became even more extreme. Suddenly driving around in cars seemed like the craziest idea ever. I felt so vulnerable watching the cars whiz past as I sat squished between the boys' car seats. I turned my anxiety into motivation to learn as much as I could about car safety, and even went so far as to become a child passenger safety technician (aka a car seat dork) to ensure that I knew as much as I possibly could know about how to keep kids safe in the car. In retrospect, the class was probably not the best idea since it exposed me to all sorts of dangers that I had yet to think about on my own (not to mention the crash videos). Lately, with all the biking I've been doing, I've become even less enthusiastic about driving. I pretty much loathe it. But, I understand that it does give us the freedom to up and leave for a distant destination whenever we feel like it. And sometimes that is nice.

On Monday we loaded up the minivan, and mentally prepared ourselves for the five-hour drive to Maine. We timed our trip to coincide with Zeben's nap, and hoped that he would sleep through the majority of our time in the car. Luke and Jaz were once again plugged into the trusty portable dvd player, and Lena and I were eager to continue with our David Sedaris marathon. And, for once, it all worked out perfectly. Zeben fell asleep and stayed asleep. Luke and Jaz watched movies and happily munched on snacks. Lena and I lost ourselves in "When You are Engulfed In Flames." It was the best car trip ever until it started to rain. And then it started to pour. The sky really seemed to have turned into a river. We slowed to 40 mph and wondered if we should pull over like so may of the other cars on the highway. But that didn't seem like a particularly safe choice either (I heard the stern voice of my CPS class instructor in my head, "NEVER pull over on the side of the highway. It's the stupidest thing you could do!"). The rain did let up a bit after a few minutes, and driving no longer seemed like an insane choice, though it remained somewhat dicey for a couple of hours (I think we were traveling with the storm).

We arrived at the cute little cottage on lake Damariscotta with our nerves shot, but with 3 happy kiddos who hadn't made much more than a peep during the entire ride. We didn't stop once! Pretty amazing. We spent the next day playing in the sun and water with Lena's parents, her twin sister Addie, Addie's husband Max, and their sweet baby, Tucker. We got the first picture of all four boys together, decked out in their anti-sun, protective clothing. Unfortunately, our kids couldn't take their eyes off of their tiny cousin long enough for us to take a picture. So, this is the best I got:


We got to take the kids out kayaking, and they did lots of frog catching and splashing around in the lake. In general, though, parenting was not particularly easy on this vacation. Tensions were high between the kids and we saw a lot of the "old" Lukas (pre-Gluten-free Lukas), despite the fact that I'm sure he didn't have any gluten. He was pretty much a nutcase for much of the trip. I started thinking about all of the things that adults like about vacations: a change of scene, a change in routine, a chance to eat different foods, a chance to try new activities, a break from regular life . . . and realized that these are all the kinds of things that can make life much less pleasant for kid, especially a highly sensitive kid like our Luke. He thrives on routine and predictability, no wonder a trip to a new place can throw him out of whack. So, despite the fun times with water and sun and family (I think the best part was a game of hearts that the 6 grown-ups played on the second night), it wasn't exactly the most relaxing vacation we've ever been on.

During dinner on the second night, the sky opened up once again and emptied itself on the lake. After dinner, the sun tried to come out for a last hurrah, and with it came one of the most amazing rainbows I've ever seen. It was actually two full rainbows, one was a bit brighter than the other. They made full arches in the sky over the lake. It was pretty breathtaking. I was bummed that the kids had just fallen asleep and were missing out, but not enough to go and wake them up! There will be more rainbows to come, I'm sure.

Our drive home was much less eventful, weather-wise (thankfully), yet much less peaceful in regards to the children. There was much less sleeping, much more whining, a stop to get gas, a stop to pee and nurse, and a stop to clean up the puke that carsick Zeben had drenched himself with. I ended up flipping his car seat around to face forward for the last 30 minutes of the drive, which is pretty much an absolute last resort for me (car seat safety freak that I am). But he was just so upset and I think it was making his carsickness worse (at least, he was perfectly happy once we flipped him). All in all, not the most enjoyable ride. I can't imagine that we'll be attempting that again anytime soon (although being on the lake in Maine did make us fantasize about taking the kids canoe camping on a different lake in Maine at some point), though who knows when inspiration will strike.