7.18.10 Road Trip '10 Begins

The five hour drive (turned into 8 hrs with a toddler in tow) to Wichita was pretty awful. Despite both Jeff and I's best efforts, Jakob was done with being in the car three hours in. We tried stopping so many times, but no matter how long he got to run around and stretch his legs, the instant we put him back in the car, he was pissed again. The last couple hours of drive time, we just had to block out his screaming. Needless to say we were all pretty stressed and fried when we finally arrived in Wichita that night.
This photo is of a McDonalds we stopped at to rest. They had a pretty awesome play set that was all enclosed tubes. The only part inside, was the three tunnel openings (one to enter and two to exit-depending on the path you chose). Even though the sign said ages 3-12, there was only one other kid playing in it, so I decided to let Jakob try it out. At first he would just go in until the tube curved, but seemed hesitant to go out of my sight. After about ten minutes though, he disappeared around the corner and was off. It was wierd not being able to see him or know where he was. I waited and waited and never heard a peep out of him or saw any sign of him coming back out. I figured he was stuck somewhere for sure, and started picturing myself climbing in after him. I called out his name several times and got no response. After about twenty minutes, I was ready to take off my shoes and head in, when all of the sudden, here he comes, crawling down one of the exit slides. It was so adorable and I was so proud of my BIG BOY! I let him do it one more time before maikng him mad by putting him back in the car.