Ch-ch-ch-chaaaanges – Halfway there! Our road trip breakdown.

Deep breath.

Okay you guys, we’ve started our journey across Canada. Tyler, Lily, and I have driven from Whitehorse, Yukon to Calgary, Alberta…and it was…. EASY.

Like super Easy. But we’ll get to all that in a minute.

I’ve been in and out of the Yukon many times, moving away for school, moving for work, etc… And I’ve NEVER been sad to leave (Sorry, Whitehorse. Sometimes beauty just isn’t enough). But my god it is much harder when you have a kid.

It was super sad to say goodbye to Lily’s home and her little cousins and all the memories we had there with her. Also, this past year I gained some really amazing girl friends that were insanely hard to say goodbye to. You know who you are 😉

How sick is that view? That was about half our drive. Pretty effing lucky. (pardon the dead bugs on the windshield)

As any parent would be, we were pretty terrified that Lily would be a little nightmare on this trip. What kid can sit in a car for 13 hours? My kid. My kid can, apparently.

I’m completely blown away. Astonished. Normally she doesn’t like to do 20 minutes in the car. But 3 days? pffft. Easy peasy.

One thing I learned from this moving experience, that I really have to share with other moms/moms to be:

Don’t sugar coat things for your kids.

People kept asking if we had told her we were moving or if we were going to wait.

From the day we knew we were going to Nova Scotia we told Lily. We told her she would have to say goodbye to her daycare friends on her last day because we were moving far far away. Made sure she knew it would be a long time before she got to see her grandma and uncles and aunt again, So to. When she kept asking where all her stuff was (crib, change table, rocking chair, some toys) we told her we sold them so we could move. But the whole time we were so excited.

All she knows is that it’s going to be a good thing. We though it would be difficult after out first stop along the drive to get her back in the truck. But every single time after we’d stop for a stretch and put her back in her carseat, she would say “We’re going to Scotia!!”

Every sweet little old person who stops to talk to her, she tells them she’s going to “Scotia”

She tells everyone she sold her crib so somebody else can use it because she has a big girl bed in “Scotia”

It’s the cutest thing. And has made this SO easy.

We really didn’t think she understood a single thing. How does a two year old know what “road trip” or “moving across the country” really means? Well, she figured it out enough to be pretty darn excited.

Some quick tips for road tripping with a toddler:

♥ It’s okay to overpack. Make them comfortable.

♥ Don’t feel like a bad parent if you have to bust out a movie. Your sanity matters too.

♥ SUNSCREEN! Don’t forget to protect your kid even inside the vehicle.

♥ Pack lots of healthy snacks. Ones they’re used to. Travelling is hard on the tummy, you don’t want your kid feeling sick.

♥ Make use of all vehicle compartments! Stay organized to stay sane.

I really thought I would be blogging along the way, but we decided to look at our trip as more of a family vacation.

It’s been a crazy hectic time for us the past…month, really. We needed some time with just the 3 of us. AND we had never really taken Lily anywhere, so we tried to make it as fun as possible for her. Luckily, she thinks going for dinner is having a party.

We even went to a Dinosaur Museum…which was more for Tyler, but Lily thought it was pretty cool too.

Right now we’re in Calgary for a day to relax and hopefully see some friends. Lily and I are leaving Tyler and his brother to finish the driving. Her and I are flying the rest of the way

…. we’ll see how that goes. Fingers crossed I’m just as lucky!!

XOXO