XC x 2 - Day 1

We got off to a very late start on our first day as a Band of Gypsies.  It was late in the afternoon when we finally left Orem and headed to Las Vegas to meet up with some of my family before a big family reunion.  This, the first leg of our trip, had one of the most memorable experiences.

As we were leaving the house, we threw the last remaining groceries in the car with us.  We would be spending a week at a condo during the reunion, so we figured we would put the food to good use.  This included, among other things, grits and breakfast cereal.  By the time we were actually getting everyone in the car, we had so much stuff and we were in such a hurry that we started just throwing things in, not paying enough attention to placement.

We stopped to get gas in St. George late in the evening.  Getting kids out of the car to use the bathroom and stretch their legs was a bit tricky because of all of the stuff everywhere, but we finally managed it.

When I went to get Eliza out of the car, I immediately noticed that she'd been eating out of an open box of Corn Pops.  (At least, I think she started out eating them...)  I saw the box, and I saw Corn Pops - lots of them - all over her.  In fact, after I threw a few handfuls of Corn Pops outside and managed to get her unbuckled, I stood her on the ground and saw that her dress had Corn Pops stuck all over it.  The sugary coating made a great adhesive!  We picked them off, one by one, until she was Corn Pop-free, then moved on to get the cereal off of / out of her car seat - it was in every nook and cranny, and we kept finding pieces in the car seat days later.

Jack was the next one to get out of the car, and his situation was even worse.  He'd found the open container of grits.  And he had apparently had a great deal of fun with it.  There were grits all over him, his seat, the floor around him, the trunk, the middle seat of the car, and spilling out of the door.  And even though Ben pulled right up to the vacuum to clean up as much as he could right away, we found remnants of grits for weeks.

The remainder of both the Corn Pops and the Grits went in the trash to prevent such disasters from happening again.  We were also more careful about where the food was placed in the car for the rest of the trip.

And Jack and Eliza tried to make up for their messes by washing the windows.

With the first leg of our trip being so auspicious, we knew we were in for quite the adventure.  We arrived in Las Vegas after midnight, exhausted but so excited to begin spending time with family.

P.S. Yes, I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the messes.  You'll just have to use your imagination.