Planning for a trip with Son #2 is always a challenge. It’s more than a trip. It’s a journey. You begin planning by gathering all of the variables of the travel equation. It’s a function of distance, time, and the amount of fish crackers you have within arms reach. A very close cousin, who’s special to me, was having her wedding in Sacramento. How were we going to get there? By air or by road?

It was either 2 hours of screaming with 150 of your closest enemies or 12 hours of screaming with family in a box on wheels. The automobile prevailed in this instance which seems counter-intuitive. But given the price of airfare for an entire family, the courtesy on other passengers’ ears, and the pricetag on my heightened anxiety, the decision was easily made.

The drive there was uneventful which doesn’t lend itself to much content here. But the story here is how Son #2 is unpredictable and at any moment, things change. After several gas and food stops, we had burnt through 13+ hours of driving and checked into our hotel in Roseville, California. We rolled in about 10:30pm to find our room equipped with two beds and a crib. In theory, this should work. Getting the kids ready for bed was easier than getting them to sleep through the night it would turn out.

Because things were wrapping up, my father and I headed down to the hotel bar. Unbeknownst to us, hotel bars in the Marriott in Roseville close at 10:00pm. Bad business if you asked me. Back to the room. Son #2 was not cool with sleeping on the first night. Constant crying. As we’ve learned the hard way in the last 23 months, he’s not cool with a break in routine of his life.


As I mentioned earlier, the purpose for the California trip was to attend and enjoy my cousin’s wedding. I was excited to be there for her. The catch is that both of our boys were ‘ring security’ in the wedding. In a strange coincidence, I was a ring bearer in her mother’s wedding 30 years earlier. I wasn’t sure if any good could come from this. With Son #1, give him responsibility, he rises to the occasion to please. However, with Son #2, let him off the leash and there’s bound to be a train wreck.


Rehearsal went well and the boys hammed it up. But the true test was when the rubber met the road for the actual ceremony. After getting all did up and waiting for the ceremony to begin, my wife and I agreed that I’d strategically place myself up front so that if Son #2 got unruly or nomadic, I could intervene. This would be conducive to keeping all children herded together.


If my cousin and soon-to-be husband, ceremony, location, and weather weren’t as perfect as they were, I’d say the ring bearers would’ve stole the show. Son #1 and two of his little cousins walked hand in hand as they entered the ceremony and approached the alter and groomsmen. Son #2 took his own sweet time and marched to his own drum down the aisle bringing up a distant rear. He walked up, stopped at his brother, did a lap around the officiant, and then walked back down the aisle the other way. Eventually, I caught up with him and held him removing escape as a possibility. The wedding was amazing and we all were very proud to see my cousin come so far to find happiness and wed the man of her dreams.

Reception involved Son #1 and #2 not liking the dinner and making a special request for crispy chicken and French fries, and what can only be describes as a strange yet intriguing style of interpretive dancing.


When the boys reached critical mass, we headed back to the hotel to plop them down for bed. Out of ingenuity and the courtesy of AT&T, we crafted make-shift baby monitors more commonly known as mobile phones. With free minutes to other AT&T phones, my wife called me, we put both our phones on speaker, left one with the boys in the room, kept the other, and headed to the bar for a beer. We could easily hear them out in the bar. Yup, on record as a bad parent. In actuality, our room was no more than 50 feet from the bar and we could see the door.

The next day we took off for home. Son #1 had school and I had to work. Obligations to the establishment for both of us.


The drive through Shasta was epic with the fall colors, curvature of the road, and lack of traffic. And did I mention there was a lack of screaming? If entire drive could have been like this, I would’ve drove for years. Too bad because things changed as we exited Oregon. Son #2 lost it and was inconsolable. Looking back, we can only guess the kid who needs structure and routine in his life was fed up of the weekend of hustling and 1500 miles of driving. We stopped at a truck stop and took him out of car seat and buckled him in with wife. He was so upset; we had very little choice in the cold and dark. He eventually calmed down and fell asleep on her while buckled in. Yup one more illegality for the trip. First baby monitors, now this. Because I’m writing this entry in the comfort of my own home, you can reasonably assume that we made it. Immediately, we put the kids to bed and the trip was complete.


To round it out, I got sick and missed the next few days of work. But that is such a small sacrifice to have had the opportunity for all of us to road trip together. It was a great journey that I can look back at fondly. Even though during it I was irritable at times. But more importantly, it was amazing to be in attendance at my cousin’s wedding. I’m so proud of her and how she has grown into an amazing woman even though at times she was a rotten little kid. Love you cuz and thank you greatly for letting us share your very special wedding. Everything was amazing and the boys behaved great and lived up to their ‘ring security’ title.