Don't Cry (or gag) Over Spilt Milk (unless of course it's curdled!)

So much has gone on since I last posted. We've been super busy. We spent a week at the beach with my family, and we had an awesome time. I'll post pics of that next. We got back on Saturday, and that following Monday, Tripp's grandma died. She lived in Panama City, Fl, so we immediately made plans to get there as quickly as possible. We ended up leaving Wednesday night and making the 5 hour drive to Thomson to stay with my folks. Then we got up early Thursday and rode with Tripp's parents to Montgomery, AL where we met up with Tripp's brother. Then we all went down to Panama City. Friday was Grandma's funeral. It was a very sweet service and a touching time of remembrance. We really enjoyed getting to see all of Tripp's family. Since Panama City is such a long drive from NC, that's the first time that Rylie had met any of Tripp's extended family. Saturday, we turned around and went back to Atlanta to visit my grandfather. Then, we went back to Thomson that evening. We got up Sunday, went to church with my folks, and then headed back home. Whew! I'm getting tired just re-living all of that!
We had a great time at each stop along the way, but I wanted to post a memorable story from our travels (and Rylie isn't even the star!).
We got back from the beach on a Saturday. The following morning, we got in the car to go to church. I took one whiff of that stifflingly thick warm car air and immediately said, "Tripp...we left french fries in the car!" So we drove past the dumpster and dropped off the fries. No big deal.
Well, as we scurried around on Wednesday night getting ready for the trip to FL, I was looking for Rylie's sippy cup thermos. It's a very nice one, and I was going to put some milk in it for the trip. I couldn't find it anywhere! I asked Tripp, and he hadn't seen it either. Well, we got the car loaded and were going down the road when Tripp looked down and picked up the thermos from the passenger's side floorboard. Let me take a quick break from the story. My WONDERFUL hubby is always SO good about unloading the car. I really appreciate that he does that job. I help when I can, but I'm usually getting Rylie out of the car and settling her back down in bed or something. I really appreciate all the work he does to get everything up to our 2nd story appartment. I know it wears him out! However, I guess at midnight, the only thing he's worried about unpacking is Rylie's bed and getting it upstairs so she can get in it and also getting our clothes and toiletries out. So, he probably doesn't scan the front seat of the car for road trip food and drinks. Hence...the milk-filled thermos in the front seat of the car on a wednesday after we had filled it with said milk on saturday. Four whole days in the hot summer heat...and the milk just sat in that thermos, heating up as the outside temp. rose. I knew what the contents of that thermos would be. I had dealt with it only a few weeks before when we had, once again, accidentally left the thermos in the car on a hot day. After about 1.5 hours, we had a thermos full of curdled milk. It took me about a week to get the smell out. I washed, re-washed, filled with baking soda, etc. It didn't take me long to realize that if I had that much trouble with milk that had been sitting for 1.5 hours, I was going to have a super hard time getting this out. I called my mom and asked if I could drop it off with her and give her a shot at salvaging the thermos while we were in FL. She so sweetly agreed and said, "Just don't open it."
Fast forward a bit. Were still in the car headed to GA when Tripp gets a call from his mom. He decides to "fiddle" while he's talking. And BAM! The thermos pops open, and the curdled milk begins to ooze out of the thermos and into the car. I IMMEDIATELY smell this pungent hit-you-in-the-face odor. It smelled like someone took 10 pairs of sweaty stinky WET socks and rubbed them all over your face. It was terrible! Ever since my pregnancy, I haven't done very well with funky food smells (when tripp brings home food containers that he took his lunch in three days earlier...and he hasn't rinsed them out....I don't usually wash them without gagging), so I start dry heaving as I'm driving down the interstate. I just knew I was about to have a lap full of throw up. Tripp is freaking out trying to figure out what to do. I'm telling him to get some wet wipes, and he can't find any. So, in his mind, it seems like a good idea to take off his polo shirt and stick it in the curdled milk!!! Long story short, we had to throw the thermos out the window as we were cruising down the interstate, and that was actually Tripp's favorite part. He still talks about how cool that explosion was. :-) Then, Tripp chunked his own shirt out the window. We pulled over at a random exit to get some febreeze and a car air freshener, and when we got Rylie out, she had thrown up curdled milk. She never does this, so I can only assume that the stench made her gag. It was soooooo strong! So, we had to change her clothes and clean her all up. I took it upon myself while we were in Food-Lion getting the needed odor-eaters to pick up some Silly Putty for Tripp. Maybe next time he's on the phone, he'll fiddle with that instead! :-)