Momma's Ark

OK - so I've definitely been feeling pretty unmotivated lately, and haven't updated in awhile. Or perhaps it's because I've been busy building an ark because of all the freakin' rain we've been having! I can not remember the last time it rained so much. I haven't taken Jon Jon for a walk in his stroller in 2 weeks. And rain boots have become a permanent fashion accessory. The only upside is that I have not had to water my gardens since Memorial Day.

It leads me to question, if I did have to build an ark, what would I put in it? And I'm not talking about packing it with pairs to keep the animal kingdom in balance. What are the necessities for my families survival? Well this question is not too far off from reality. Next week Big Jon, Little Jon and I are heading north for 5 days. Childhood friends of Jon have a home on the island of North Haven, Maine. We are super excited to spend some quality time with good people, good food, good drink, and we hope - good weather! But to get there we need to travel a solid 5 hours by car, and then another hour and half by ferry - all with a 5 month old strapped into his car seat. If you are a mom, you can imagine that I have been having nightmares about making this trip and even more so, packing for it, for weeks.

Normally when you travel, and you get that nagging suspicion that you've forgotten something, you say "Well, there are stores. If I forget something, I'll just buy it." But this will not be the case on North Haven. There is one store (I think) and I'm pretty sure they won't have my child's specific Evenflow bottle nipples, or the bath lotion without which he cannot sleep. So everyday I have been making a mental list of all the things I must not forget (yes - writing it down would make more sense - but mommy brain prevents me from being sensible). And then there are my worries of how will I keep my baby happy and amused when not in his own surroundings. Ideally I want to throw the Baby Einstein activity center in the back of the car - but that's crazy, right? Nobody else coming has a child and will most likely look at us like those crazy parents who have to drag all this paraphernalia with them wherever they go. But all I want to do is make sure Jon Jon is happy and not crying and miserable the whole time, and thus making everyone else miserable.

Now if we actually had an ark, I could fit everything I needed in it! Fabulous - no worries. But alas we do not have an ark. What we do have is my mother-in-law's Lexus SUV - the largest car of any family member that we could borrow - and hopefully that will do the trick. We plan to pack it to the brim with essentials for the whole family, clothes, food, cocktails, board games, croquet mallets and possibly, if we can fit it, Baby Einstein himself. A refreshing change will be the lack of un-essentials... cable TV, Wi Fi, cell phone signals, computers, etc. What we will enjoy is the view of the ocean, the smell of steaks on the grill, eagles soaring by, the taste of fresh lobsters and the clink of a wine glass or two. I think I can live with that for a few days, even if we do have to have the tunes of Old MacDonald in the background.