The Adventures of Nana, 5 preschoolers, and a 2000 mile road trip . . . Day 3

We seem to be falling into a routine already. The kids get up, get dressed, load their bags, and obediently march to the car. We load it up, then take the hotel's complimentary breakfast by storm. For added amusement today a group of businessmen were seated at the table behind us trying to have an important meeting in the breakfast room of the Residence Inn complete with suit jackets on and massive piles of spreadsheets. We, at the table next to them, had a full-on two year old tantrum because someone had been given the banana they requested, but then wanted to steal his sister's Fruit Loops. It culminated with him grabbing the bowl, her pulling it back, flying cereal, and him wailing in the floor. I tried to look graceful and in control while crawling under the table to retrieve him and drag him outside. He immediately calmed down and said, "Eat nannana." He then took my hand and calmly led me back to the table where he climbed into his oversized chair and asked the Fruit Loop eating sister to peel the banana for him. 

On the road we played the find 10 things that start with the letter game for C (car, clouds, cactus, etc.) for a bit, but held off on opening our first surprise until after an early bathroom stop. With a full tank of gas, we gave the kids "magic pen" books to color and set out for Wyoming. We stopped at the border to take a picture, and noted that we'd also taken a 15 minute detour. Thankfully it wasn't worse and we headed on our way.

After noting the dearth of options for lunch, we opted to stop in Laramie at 11am even though no one yet wanted food. We found a local playground and enjoyed some fun in the sun before dining at a local McAlister's. It's a good thing we did! Back on the road we observed that once again the scenery was unbroken by civilization for hundreds of miles. In fact, restrooms were scarce too . . . .

The kids enjoyed an afternoon of car bingo games and listening to books on tape. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle proved to be a favorite - stories of children's bad habits and how this crazy lady corrects them, usually after their terrible mothers declare them incorrigible. Around 6pm we reached Evanston and had Subway for dinner. We used the time to scout hotels for the night and the kids enjoyed running around a bit. 

Nana drove for the last hour of the day while I completed the hotel reservations. I also worked on the blog and played an endless stream of Disney sing along songs on my phone. 

We reached the hotel in Ogden, UT with plenty of time for an evening swim. After a quick bath, we breezed through bedtime.

The best part of the day: hot water! And Nana sneaked down to the front desk to procure overpriced chocolate!

More adventures tomorrow . . . 

Today's bonus pictures: