in which she writes....finally, just writes...

It has been a long time since I sat in my comfy chair in my quiet living room....writing. Last evening when I put up some pictures, which take forever and a day to load, out here in the country with our slooow internet, I was also talking to Aaron, Mirielle, Evelyn. We had a lot of catching up to do. I can't just sit here and type when there are kids to talk to.

Anyway, apparently the house was cleaner when we were gone. I KNEW they would say this. Is it because the little kids make messes, or is it Mommy? I think little kids, but then it is hard to see oneself clearly, right? I do know I shined up the front of the 'fridge first thing, it was all handprint-y. They said they knew I would do that.

So...our trip was way too much fun. Mixed with a few trials, of course. Someone peed in their carseat at 3 am in Virginia, I think. At the Shell station, the one that declined our credit card because we forgot to punch in our zip code at the gas pump. Towels, always travel with some towels. They make good pillows for when the nice mama gives the one she brought for herself to one of the kids in the backseat who forgot one. And they make a pee-pee carseat sittable again. (I could have guessed it would happen, since I washed those covers before the trip. Ah well, it is all washed again, drying in the sunshine.)

We had a slow leak in one of the tires on the way home. That made it interesting. We played the Can We Make It To The Next Exit Before It Goes Flat game between stopping and pumping it up.

I also played a game which I named, "Paying Attention". It is a must-play for middle of the night driving when everyone in the vehicle is asleep, and the road starts blurring. The rules are simple: just pay attention! Road signs, watch for deer (North Carolina, wow, lots of deer there!)...I drove for hours in the deep dark night on the way home, and I stayed awake and alert by playing that game, plus eating one peanut M&M every ten minutes. When they were gone, I rooted around in the snack box and found a bar...thought it was FiberOne or a Balance Bar, but it was a CocoaPuffs bar that Gramma had bought. I still ate it. Kept me REALLY awake for a while.

I do not like passing tractor-trailers. I hate it, actually. But unless you want to just sit behind them and absorb all their tail-wind, or worse, drive behind them in the rain and be stuck in a mobile carwash as the rain swirls around them and flies up at you, you have to pass them.

I also hate people who text and drive. Duh! You are swerving into my lane, is that text really that important?!

Our trip...the kids here who stayed home are tired of hearing about the trip. But guess what? I am not tired of talking about it yet. The things I loved most were simple things:

1. The way the kids enjoyed each and every thing about it. Even the bathroom stops at gas stations were exciting for them. btw, the little girls have a term for pooping...they call it, "Going potatoes." I don't know why, but it struck me as really funny.

2. Want to make five kids really happy? Tell them they can each get a 79 cent slushy when you stop for gas. A few of them asked, "We each get our own? We don't have to share?"

3. Stopping at McDonalds for dinner. I hated the food, because I don't eat that stuff anymore...I had six fries and six chicken nuggets, and a fruit parfait, and felt awful...but they got to pick three things each from the dollar menu, and it was almost sad how much they enjoyed it.

4. Taking them out to breakfast. On the way down, we stopped at the WaffleHouse. They rarely go to restaurants, so they were pretty happy. They also got a kick out of the waitress's South Carolina twang.

5. Visiting with my mother-in-law. She is such a lady. I hope we didn't wear her out too much, but I doubt it. She has more energy than I do. She keeps her place spotless, not a thing out of order. She took us out to dinner, and made us some lovely meals. She had tons of good snacks for the kids, and ice cream for them every night. She let the princesses play in her room, and play house all over her house.

6. The way the Camille knew the order of the states we passed through....on the way back, I asked her what state we would be entering as we left Georgia, and she thought a minute and said, "South Carolina!"

7. Our unexpected visit to the ocean. We got soaked in the waves, waded in the warm tidal pools, collected a million shells to bring home, and enjoyed the sunshine.

8. The kids really wanted pizza, so we got one from Domino's. They thought that was just grand.

9. Their excitement at the hotels. They like exploring and exclaiming about all the features. Our first hotel in Florida was a suite, and they just marvelled at it.

10. Our second hotel in Florida was amazing. The kids just loved it. The little girls unplugged the phones and played office with out on the patio. There were seven pools there and several hot tubs. One rainy day they went down the waterslide, played on a miniture ship in a kids' pool, and swam in the heated pool in the rain...until it rained so hard the pools were closed because the lifeguard couldn't see the bottoms....Camille suggested we go back to our room and have a, "Cozy Night". We did. We had coffee and tea, they ate Ramen noodles, then we had frozen pizzas for dinner. It was cozy.

11. Going to Magic Kingdom. I, as you well know, am not a planner. Not an organizer. I try. But. Anyway, I read lots of stuff before we went, and saw that there are people out there who go to Disney, and know what the heck they are doing. They map it out, have strategies. This worried me a bit, I thought we would be there and wait too long in lines, do everything bass-ackwards, and have not enough fun. So I read about the Fast-Passes, and memorized the park map. I needn't have worried! It was AMAZING! The weather was forecast to be rainy, but it was gorgeous all day until evening, when the rain started. We used those Fast-Passes, and they are magical! Simply swipe your tickets at a ride, and come back at the time stated, within an hour. When you return, you go straight to the ride, get right on, right past all the people who are waiting! We used it over and over again. Splash Mountain, riding through a stream in a raft, past Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit, then plunging down a fifty foot drop, getting soaked...three times we went on it. The little kids loved it! Thunder Mountain, twice. The Haunted Mansion, Dumbo Flying Elephants, Ariel's Under The Sea Adventure, Winnie-The-Pooh Land (Martha, I thought of you, you would have liked it!), Tomorrowland Speedway - twice, Buzz Lightyear, twice....the Carousel of Progress, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Storytime With Belle, The Country Bear Jamboree, and...Space Mountain. Space Mountain...we had Fast Passes, so we went right in, right up...I had never been on it, and did not realize....how terrifying it was going to be. The seats are individual, so Camille sat behind me. As the ride started going into the darkness, and curving and speeding and spinning, oh my goodness. I thought, What Have I Done To My Children? I couldn't even turn around and see if Camille was okay, because I was hanging on for dear life! I thought I was going to fly right out of that seat! Then it was over, and she had this look on her face....and she said, "Let's do it again, it was SO MUCH FUN!"

12. Spending time with Paul. He is such a good guy. I swear, I fall more in love with him year after year. He just takes things so calmly. Enjoys the simple things. He liked all the channels we got down there so he could watch some of those crazy cable shows where the hicks and hillbillies shoot deer in rich neighborhoods and hunt alligators. When the kids were going crazy in the back seat while we were driving, he just told me to ignore them, it didn't bother him. He got such a kick out of seeing the kids enjoy themselves at Disney too. And when we got home and surveyed the mess in that minivan, he just brought the garbage can over and started cleaning it up, unlike um...me, who was like, SERIOUSLY GUYS? (how many times did I ask them if they threw out all their trash, how many times did they assure me that they did?!)

So...we had fun.

We brought our little soft-sided cooler into the park with turkey wraps and peaches and frozen Kool-Aid coolers, frozen water bottles. We also had soft ice cream cones, $3.49 each, ouch, but worth it at the time. We got the kids a cotton candy (to share:)), some popcorn. It rained in the evening and we got so soaked, even in our lovely rain ponchos. We stayed for the fireworks, and headed to the tram to leave the park. Almost 14 hours of tromping around....the blisters on the bottom of my feet are worth it. The only thing I would complain about is the lack of princesses in the park. The girls were really wanting to see them. No Mickey, no Donald, only Belle in her Storytime thing.

I did gain three pounds in that vacation week. Part of it was eating during the night while I drove. Plus I had pizza one night. And the ice cream. And Fritos. We had lots of them in the park, and while driving. I don't usually eat chips at all, but. I could have done much worse, I tried to plan and had almonds and fruit, and ate lots of salads. But. Nothing I can do now but sigh, and move on. I got my lazy rear end out the door to the pool this morning, so I am back on track....

And yes, we have a new baby kitten....never a dull moment. Tonight, band concert for Evelyn at school, soccer practice for lots of the other kids...

And now, laundry...