After spending more than 24 hours in the car this past weekend, I had plenty of time to be annoyed, impressed, frustrated, and amused by my kids. There was also plenty of time to be annoyed, frustrated and annoyed (did I already say annoyed?) with my husband– but hey, we’re still here! And that’s an accomplishment.

It doesn’t matter how many DVDs, coloring books, Barbies and snacks you bring… when you’re on a road trip from DC to Chicago, there is plenty of down time.

Here are ten things I learned about Lira and Zana over the weekend.

• Lira does not back down from an argument– especially when it has to do with a Disney movie. (Want to know which is which when it comes to Flora, Fauna and Merryweather? Ask her, not Dave).
• Time outs work for Lira– even when it just means no books for 10 minutes. They don’t work on Zana at all– not even when it means locking her in the trunk. Just kidding. Sort of.
• Zana does like to eat after all! The problem is that we’re always trying to feed her a fruit or a vegetable. If you give her rest-stop pizza and cookies, she’ll eat all day long– even while sitting in a car seat and expending zero energy.
• Accusing Lira of “tooting” makes her laugh, no matter how many times you do it– which in this case, was before every toll booth. You know those rumble strips they put in the road to make you slow down for the toll? The ones that make that… that sound? Well, all you have to do is say “Ewwwww, Lira!” and the giggles don’t stop.
• The girls know all of the words to Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire. Lira even asked “if this song is in India, why do they say ‘bila bila’? That’s Spanish.”
• Zana has a death grip. Every time Lira got too close, Zana would grab a chunk of hair; it took two adult hands to pry each finger off one at a time. And she’s convinced that a simple “saw-wee” makes it all ok.
• There’s nothing more exciting than a tunnel.
• Starbucks better watch out if Zana needs to “go.” She needs her privacy, even if that means hiding behind a display and knocking over all the glasses.

• No matter how many Disney movies you bring (we brought 8), you never have the one they want to watch.
• Both daughters are very patient, only asking “are we there yet?” about 10 times… which is more than I can say for myself.

As insightful as this journey may have been, I hope we don’t ever make that drive again. The girls have other ideas, though. When I arrived home from work yesterday, they both ran out to the car with bags full of toys yelling “we wanna go back to Chicago!”

Have mercy…