The weather was beautiful, the timing - perfect (I have the following Monday off for Columbus Day & Evie has school so I'd have a nice, quiet day after this trip), and the organization to get out-the-door - impeccable.
We were ready-to-go at 9:45AM. Actually, we could have been ready at 9:30AM but we dawdled since Greg & Dany were to meet us at 10AM. Now, what I HEARD was that they were meeting us at our house at 10AM. What Greg heard was that we were leaving at 10AM and would meet at the mountain top.
We waited. At 10:15AM Rob, frustrated at wondering where Greg & Dany was, went to the coffee shop for a coffee. Around 10:30AM we decided to just leave. Little did we know they were already halfway there.
We picked up Subway sandwiches halfway to our destination and packed them in the car to eat at Carter Mountain. Around this time I realized how we had mis-communicated (Greg and I) and Max awoke with the car stopping. Max was also... PISSED. He had a very saturated diaper and was not at all happy with it. I eventually crawled in the backseat (wedging myself between the car seats) to try and comfort Max. His sniffling & fussing grew worse. He howled.
Evie muttered CONTINUOUSLY under her breathe, "I'm hungry... I'm starving... I'm hungry mom... when can we eat yet? I want to eat. I'm starving... I'm hun-"
I took Max out of his car seat. He was slightly comforted by me holding him but I grew anxious knowing this was the most unsafe decision with Rob driving totally frustrated in the building traffic.
We got off our exit. The cars were backed up to the exit ramp. The light up ahead was merging 2 lanes of traffic and EVERY a-hole imaginable was racing to merge as close to the end as possible. And everybody was letting them do it! I grew more and more angry with Max howling, Evie WHINING and our car creeping one whole car length for every cycle of the traffic light.
It was at this point I dropped no fewer then 13 F-Bombs begging, PLEADING, with Rob to pull over. He pounded the steering wheel. Evie, unfazed, "I'm hungry. I'm starving. Mom? I'm hun-"
We got up to the light and saw the bumper-to-bumper non-moving vehicles up to the mountain top.
"We aren't going apple picking," Rob declared as he flipped a U-Turn.
I begged Rob to pull over. He threatened to get back on the highway instead of stopping anywhere around here.
I threatened to "pop Max's head like a grape" if he didn't stop RIGHT. NOW.
We stumbled, quickly, into a neighborhood and I caught the shape of a playground. "Pull over HERE!" I yelled. Rob jerked the wheel and stopped. We all piled out of the car.
Thank. Gawd.
I had the same sensation one has after a horribly turbulent airplane ride... I almost kissed the ground.
I changed Max's near 2lb diaper and we quickly smiled. His crisis was solved.
Evie was running up and down a fake rock wall. Her crisis was solved.
Rob pulled out the blanket I packed and was eating his sandwich picnic-style. His crisis solved.
Phew. All is right with the world.
Max basked on the picnic blanket - relieved to be dry and stretched out.
Rob gives Max his first swing ride.
Silliness.
Evie swinging up a storm.
I try and teach Evie how to use the camera. This is take #5. Takes #1-4 were mostly crotch-shots.
Max rides in style with his anchor-tat and tam-o-shanter.
We decided to stroll the walking mall in Charlottesville before heading back home. We enjoyed ice cream at "Chaps." (I mean, how could I pass up a place called "Chaps"?) Funny enough, we ran into Greg and Dany at the walking mall.... ai-yi-ii.
On the way home, "Mommy? I wanted to go apple-picking..."
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