Seriously don't make me turn this car around!

A trip in the van for us is like a three ring boxing matched mixed with a trip to the circus. Two of our children are like oil and water. They are complete opposites and when kept in the same space for too long a blast often occurs. We get the classics, she's touching me, well she's looking at me. Then we get the not so classics Mom, Leanna's breath smells, she took my toy, she told me to get out and walk. This is usually the point when we turn up the radio.

I always wonder what people think when Dave runs into a store and I'm in the van with the kids. They all seem to think the moment the van is stopped it's time to unbuckle and begin a routine of acrobats that would put Cirque Du Soleil to shame. I know one thing for sure the shocks on the van are good. People must think we have hydraulics on the van as it bounces up and down to the gleeful screams of children. If Dave takes too long however, these gleeful screams turn to crying and fighting. It's all fun and games until someone gets their hair pulled. I am "that" mother. The one sitting in the front seat turned around, yelling at the kids that people are looking at us.

I really don't get it sometimes. We can take a ride to the store and they are at each others throats. Then if we take a long van trip they are all perfectly well behaved. It makes no sense, but I have a feeling it's because when we take long trips the kids know we are going somewhere good. They also know we won't hesitate to turn the van around. It takes about 20 warnings before we actually so it, but they know eventually we will.

We do have some awesome times in the van too. I love it when my kids break out in song. Most of the time it's Sugar Cult (The Dugger's we are not). This opens a whole new can of worms as we sit in parking lots or gas stations and people look at the van because they hear a bunch of kids singing punk rock. Nothing like an eight year old singing the words Ritalin is never going to be the same.

So all in all I guess our escapades in the van are no different than other peoples who have kids, just times ours by seven.

                                                                  The trips I love