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This is 36: Taking Shifts with My Wife, As the Baby Sleeps in the Car

As you know, our family recently spent a week down in Destin, Florida for a family vacation over Memorial Day weekend. As you can imagine, with a 1 year-old little girl in tow, we largely had to base our schedule and activities around her sleep schedule.

For example, on the way down to Florida, we left our home in Tennessee immediately after an early dinner so that we could get to our condo in Destin by 1:30 AM. This created an environment for our daughter to be able to sleep through the entire drive. Granted, we only stopped once during the 7 hour trip for a bathroom break; to help ensure she didn’t wake up.

Since this formula proved effective, we did the same thing for the drive back home from Florida. That’s right- just 2 bathroom breaks during the 14 hour round trip.

Uh… impressed much?

We continued to cater to our daughter’s slumber throughout the course of our vacation.

One day we took a day trip over to Pensacola where one of my brothers-in law and his wife have recently moved. After we toured their new home which is currently under construction, everyone decided to walk through some of the model homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.

So my mother-in-law and her husband (who were also in town for the weekend), my brother-in-law, his wife, my wife, our son, our daughter, and I successfully toured two model homes.

But as we drove to the next neighborhood, our daughter had fallen asleep in just a matter of minutes. I volunteered to stay in the driver’s seat of the 2017 Toyota Prius Three as our daughter took her afternoon nap behind me in her car seat.

There in the driveway of that model home, I pulled out the classic 1984 Ride the Lightning album by Metallica to enjoy for myself. Fortunately, the symphonic distorted electric guitars helped keep my little girl asleep. She’s not too picky when it comes to music, yet.

Even after my wife and son returned from the tour of that model home, they returned to the car, only to inform me that there was yet one more model home to visit before we made our way back to Destin.

Honestly, I didn’t mind one bit. It was peaceful and relaxing for me. It gave me not only a chance to think, but a chance to help my wife out by giving her some time to see something new and exciting and to take a break from constantly caring for a baby.

Of course, it was no surprise that less than 24 hours, my wife would be taking the next shift of “chill out in the car while the baby sleeps.” Because for lunch the following day, as went out for Mexican food for lunch, our daughter had fallen asleep in the car.

So I took my wife’s order, then eventually brought her food to her roadside, while the rest of us ate inside the restaurant.

This is just how it has to be right now. We’re used to it.

This is 36.

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Our Family’s “Ride the Lightning Tour” to Destin in a 2017 Toyota Prius Three

What happens when two overworked parents in their mid-30s decide to drive their two young children in a Prius all the way from Spring Hill, TN to Destin, FL and back?

Awesomeness, that’s what.

Granted, we experienced our obstacles; that’s for sure, which you can read about here.

But my wife and I obviously knew there would be challenges involved in taking a 1 year-old and a 6 year-old on a 7 hour road trip. It didn’t matter to us. We were ready for a vacation, so we made it happen.

Map from Spring Hill, Tennessee to Destin, Florida 32541

When the folks at Toyota heard about my family’s plan to take such an ambitious road trip, they were quick to sponsor us by supplying us with a 2017 Toyota Prius Three for the week.

I was so happy about this, because I knew the Prius is supposed to average 52 miles a gallon, since it is a hybrid.

Fortunately, that wasn’t true. Instead, we averaged 55.5 miles a gallon. And for the entire round trip, which even included a day trip to Pensacola as well, it only took us two tanks of gas. (That’s less than $50 for the entire round trip!)

I decided to name our road trip “Ride the Lightning”, which references the (coincidentally same-colored) 1984 album by Metallica, and ties it into the fact the Prius has an electric engine.

So quite literally, our family rode the lightning to Florida and back.

Cargo space wasn’t an issue for us either. Even with our daughter’s travel crib, plus all our clothes and food, we still had a little bit of room to spare.

This trip made our daughter’s first visit to the beach- and she absolutely loved it!

It also made for the first time that my wife, son, and I experienced the glory of simply riding in an inflatable donut on the waves.

Sure, it wasn’t practical for my wife and I to take our young kids on such a long road trip, but we made the most of it.

And now that our vacation has ended, it’s simply a question of how soon we can do this again!

I’ve got so many more things to say about our trip, so be on the lookout for more stories about our family’s “Ride the Lightning Tour” to Destin in a 2017 Toyota Prius Three…

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This is 36: We Took Our 2 Young Kids on a 7 Hour Road Trip to Florida (So You Don’t Have To!)

Brave. Ambitious. Heroic.

Those are buzz words that people like to throw around these days when referencing someone who dares to go against the norm; someone who is willing to take risks that others dare not.

If that’s the case, then my wife and I are soon to be famous…

Because during past week, we willingly took a 7 hour road trip from Spring Hill, Tennessee (where we live) to Destin, Florida and back… with our 1 year-old daughter and our 6 and a half year-old son.

Not in a minivan. Not in a big SUV. But in a small car.

As Jeb Bush muttered during last year’s campaign… Please clap.

Now I want to warn you, over the next week or so, you will be presented with several blog posts about our recent road trip and vacation to Destin. Riding on tubes at the beach, digging up buried treasure, racing go-karts…

At times, you may even think, “Lucky them! What a cool, fun family! Looks like they’ve got it made!”

If those thoughts cross your mind, think back to this blog post…

In the midst of all the glory and splendor of our trip, we were also caring our daughter who was still recovering from an ear infection.

We were there during a holiday weekend, meaning we were at one point stuck in traffic for 2 and a half hours (during a stretch that should have barely taken us an hour) with that little girl who we were desperately trying to keep asleep, as her older brother who hadn’t had a nap that day was getting way too antsy.

Keep in mind that as we were sharing a condo with family (which definitely saved us money), at one point we got locked outside for about an hour, which delayed our daughter getting to bed that night on schedule. And by the way, it took hours to get her to sleep each night in that new environment, compared to her falling asleep within a few minutes back home in Tennessee.

Consider that the 4 of us all slept in a small room with very squeaky beds, which at any moment my son or my wife or I could (and sometimes did) easily wake the baby.

Near the middle of the vacation, my wife mutually proclaimed we would not be taking another trip like this for years.

Funny though, because by the last day of our trip, we both recanted, asking each other, “Hmm… when can we come do this again?”

Despite the chaos, we truly had a blast.

And the fact that we were in a 2017 Toyota Prius Three, that meant we did the entire road trip on just two tanks of gas! Plus, we very easily stuffed the hatchback with all our stuff. We actually had plenty of room. My wife even rode in the back seat with the kids a few times, while I drove up front.

Our road trip not only produced awesome memories (and photos to prove it), but it helped build character for our family. And I’m all about character arc, because in my opinion, that’s what makes a good story.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way, actually. I think it’s obvious that my wife and I are wired for a good challenge.

We survived. We did it!

This is 36.  

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Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

11 weeks.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Dear Holly,

You met all of your great-grandparents in one weekend, in the midst of our family’s 1st road trip as a family of four; in which we drove from Nashville to Atlanta.

2016 Toyota Highlander Limited: 3rd Row Seat Space & Child Car Seat Placement

Granted, you were asleep during 95% of the drive, in the 2016 Toyota Highlander. But you woke up just in time to meet everyone and were able to get your picture made with them.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

First we drove through my hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama; where you met your Mexican great-grandmother, Lola Mendez Metallo; whose parents moved here from Michoacán, Mexico and settled in Buffalo, New York. I’m pretty sure she thought it was a dream that we stopped by, as we kept it a complete surprise we were coming.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

She was married to my Italian grandfather Albert Metallo, whose father moved here from southern Italy and settled in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I wish you could have met him too, but you were born about 8 years too late to meet him.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

We stayed the night at Nonna and Papa’s house that night. Your cousin Calla brought some leftover fireworks for Uncle Andrew to light and shoot off in the front yard, while I helped supervise for safety.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

It was quite a show. You were never once scared by the noise or the minor explosions. In fact, you took it all in with a straight face the entire time.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip) a6 a7

We spent the next couple of days in Atlanta, where visited the Atlanta Aquarium as well as the Delta Flight Museum. On the way back home though, we stopped by Flintstone, Georgia, right outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, so you could meet my dad’s (Papa’s) parents; which is who we get our last name from.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Since we were just passing through and didn’t know what time we’d get there, it was a quick visit; as opposed to having a big family reunion. We’ll have to save that for a day when we aren’t in transition.

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

Your Great-Aunt Rosa was there though, as she kept your brother Jack busy as she wrestled him.

I’m so glad you were able to meet your great-parents this past weekend. You are quite a big deal to them!

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Family Road Trip)

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2016 Toyota Highlander Limited: 3rd Row Seat Space and Child Car Seat Placement

2016 Toyota Highlander Limited: 3rd Row Seat Space & Child Car Seat Placement

This past weekend, our family had the privilege of being able to drive a 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited from Spring Hill, Tennessee (a bedroom community of Nashville) to Atlanta, Georgia. One of the specific reasons we chose this particular vehicle was to test out its 3rd row seat.

Now that we are a family of 4 (our daughter was born 2 months ago), we are considering buying an SUV for our next family vehicle. In particular, we are currently considering the ones that have a 3rd row seat.

It’s not that 4 people require 3 rows of seats. Instead, we would like the option of having my wife being able to sit in the back with the kids, while I drive up front.

Plus, it would be nice to have extra seats when my parents are in town so we can all fit in the same vehicle.

In the 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited that we drove for the weekend, the seat layout consisted of 2 captain’s chairs up front, 2 more in the middle row, and then a 3-seat 3rd row (which quickly and easily folds up or down with the pull of a tether).

The 3rd row’s child seat anchor is in the middle seat; meaning that an adult or older child would sit on the ends of the 3rd row while and the younger child’s or baby’s car seat would be in between them.

Obviously, child car seats can be put in either of the middle row captain’s chair as well; making a total of 3 different places that children’s seats can be anchored.

As far as how much space is in the 3rd row seat for an adult, I shot this video for your convenience.

In it, I demonstrated how an average-sized American adult (which I am, at 5’9” and 162 pounds) can easily fit in the 3rd row seat, given that you A) sit on either end of the row, but not the middle; B) lay the seat back further than a 90 degree angle; and C) move the middle row up a few inches so your knees don’t hit it.

Another thing I do in the video is the show how much cargo space remains when the 3rd row is up: I am able to lay down in that space, as you will see…

I also invite you to watch my other video which shows everything we packed in the back, with the 3rd row seat down. I explain how it was great having that space for our stroller and luggage.

Thanks for reading my blog post today and watching my videos. I hope you found this helpful in making decisions for your own family.

And if you’re looking for a child booster car seat similar to the one my son is using in the pictures above, here’s a link in case you’re looking to purchase one.

2016 Toyota Highlander Limited: 3rd Row Seat Space & Child Car Seat Placement