weekend with Josh's school, my kids trashed the hotel room, the drive took twice
as long as it should have and once back home, we (I) didn't unpack for weeks.
You can see all the fun we had here.
We vacationed with the school once again, this past weekend, and now we're
back. I still haven't unpacked, but we've only been back home 36 hours, so I
think I'm still okay.
One of the deals Josh and I made before we left, was that he needed to
vacuum out the car. I was very much opposed to sitting in a car with all the
kids and the huge mess that is our everyday life in the van. It's one thing for
cheerios to fall out of the car when the kids get out of the car at the dropoff
line. It's quite another to spend hours in the car, having no where to put your
feet because there are so many empty water bottles on the floor and watching
granola bar wrappers tumble out at a rest stop on the NY Thruway.
So Josh vacuumed, and you can see the clean carpet here, slightly.
shake your head. I did.
bathroom in sight.
head here too. I did.
and bad. The kids, obviously, are a year older, so the things they found
fascinating and I used to distract them (look, it's you in the mirror!) last
year didn't really work this year. The baby too, a year older, had a whole other
set of issues. Last year, she was (somewhat) content to sit in her stroller and
just watch. This year, at twenty months old, she is more of a mover and a runner
and climber and a faller. And there were lots and lots of steps and ramps and
couches and tables and water coolers to climb and run and jump on. On the bright
side, the kids were able to stay up later without falling apart, and their table
manners were slightly better than they were last year. Oh, and there was only
one incidence of vomiting this year, so we're making progress.
You know, it's funny. We drove and drove and drove and the baby repeated her refrain
of "owwt! holllle me!" pretty much the entire way there. And at some point, the highway
turns to road and it looked like you have completely left civilization. Or New York. When
in reality, you have left neither. And you wanna know how I know. Because at the
turnoff before the hotel, this is what greeted us:
sakes. We haven't been to a good Walmart SuperCenter since we lived in Phoenix,
back before we had kids and shopping meant actual shopping and not sprinting through
the store like your panties are on fire.
So yeah, the kids had a blast and were so exhausted when we got home, that all four
of them were sound asleep by 6pm last night, which for me, was the best part.
And, and, one of my boys even slept until 7:45am this morning,
completely unheard of in this house of children who wake before the dawn.
The sleepfest did make us late for school, so instead of worrying and
yelling and making everyone eat breakfast and get dressed faster, I just let it
be. Then I patted myself on the back for being a mommy who thinks before she
yells (sometimes).
totally laid back morning to remember how cute and sweet and cherished your kids
are, we made ourselves even later for school, and stopped at Dunkin Donuts. And
$4 later, I had four oh-so-happy little kids. Sometimes it just takes a donut
to remember how little it takes to make them happy.