Exhausting Weekend

Thank you all for your kind comments regarding my blogging. As this blog started as a personal endeavor (I was never even sure if I would gain any readers), I decided to continue. That, and the fact that you all enjoy reading it :-)

Our weekend was an exhausting one, not just for me, but for the kids as well. We are enjoying some well-earned relaxation today. Friday nights are my recovery group, that usually lasts until around 9:30 pm, so we are usually home around 10. On a normal weekend, my husband would have been home waiting to help us upstairs and he helps put the kids to bed. As he is only here for one night, he has made this a routine for the kids. They enjoy "special daddy night." He reads them stories, then sits and watches part of a movie with them as they fall asleep.

This wasn't a normal weekend. He wasn't here to help us, because we were going to see him at his parents' house on Saturday. So up the stairs I trudged, one by one as I carried each child in succession from the car to their beds. I tucked them all in as they asked again and again, "where's daddy?" It's so hard to explain to a 3 year old the concept of "tomorrow". My 5 year old understood, but wasn't happy.

That is, until Saturday came. We couldn't leave the house fast enough for them! :-) I packed as they ate breakfast. I ate as they bathed (I ate a sandwich in the bathroom, I would never leave them unattended). We all groomed, then off we went! They knew there was a surprise for them when we arrived, but they didn't know what it was. Daddy was a big enough surprise, not to mention their grandparents! There was more?

We arrived not a moment too soon, it's more than a 2 hour drive and I was getting choruses of "are we there yet" and "what's taking so long?" As we arrived, daddy met them at the door. Shouts of "daddy, where's our surprise?" were quickly thwarted as we climbed the stairs to "Grandma, Grandpa, we're HERE!" As if they couldn't tell!!! :-)

We visited a while, ate lunch, then jumped back in the car (more driving, yeay *sarcastically*) to our "surprise" destination. About a half hour or so later, we arrived at THE THEME PARK!!! Yeay!!! "Mommy, are we REALLY going here?" and "I can ride the rides, right?" Grandpa bought tickets while we waited in line to see which category of rides they could go on. A very disappointed little girl and one very excited little boy both classified for the same level of rides, the lowest one. They could go on the middle tier of rides with an adult, though.

My son preferred the more tame rides such as the swings and the boats. My daughter liked the rides like the whip and teacups. I think we may have a daredevil on our hands :-) The baby was content to watch people and rides, and eat ice cream! He enjoyed himself a lot!

When we were through, my daughter was angry. She wanted to STAY and she made it known. My son was tired and glad to leave, although he did have a good time. He knows when enough is enough. They had ridden rides, played games and ate food. They were done. She was NOT. LOL Have you ever heard the term "kicking and screaming?" She took this literally. Oh, well. She calmed down in the car.

That is where I started with emotion. On each of our cars was a little white slip of paper. You know the kind. It's rectangular, and has black typecast, with one spot for red, and one handwritten signature. Yup, a ticket!!! We each had one. Apparently the parking meter wasn't working correctly because it stated we were expired shortly after we arrived when we had bought 4 hours of parking. My father in law took the tickets and the meter stubs and will be "fighting" the tickets. Who knows? Maybe he'll win.

Once that fit was over (yes, I threw a fit over the tickets. I was tired, exhausted and hungry. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!) :-) We left for my dad's house. He asked us to stay the night so I wouldn't have to drive back late. He is about an hour from where we were, so we decided to go. He hadn't seen the kids in almost 2 months. When we arrived, it was dinner time, with no dinner to be had. My dad is the kind who buys as he needs, he eats out a lot, and he doesn't take dinner out of the freezer unless he knows what he wants (which is not often).

My husband had made the trip with us, and went mercifully to get us a pizza. We all enjoyed that (their pizza is infinitely better than we can get here). Then it was bedtime. The kids all went to sleep, followed in short order by the adults. As sleeping room is scarce, I shared a bed with my son, my husband shared the couch with the baby, and my daughter got the supreme honor of sleeping in Grandpa's room (at her request, of course. Who can say no to those big eyes?)

In the morning, we awoke to coffee and bacon. Yum! :-) The kids played outside for HOURS with adult supervision. As it was 90 or so degrees, we took turns watching them, and spraying them with the hose. Then we would take turns inside as well! The kids didn't want to come in, so we just sprayed them down from time to time. They enjoyed themselves!

I ended up leaving after dinner - so much for not driving home too late! It's a three hour car ride, without traffic. I hit traffic, and a half hour detour. I ended up arriving home around 11pm, sleepy and with much left to do.

Today was kindergarten registration day. I still had to finish filling out forms, and we all needed bathing. That all waited until this morning. We all rushed to get ready, and a friend watched my sons while I took my daughter to her registration. She was enamored by the school. I explained her medical requirements and they said they could accommodate them.

Now we are all home sweating it out happily as we watch a movie. Undoubtedly we will be outside before long! How was your weekend?

In exhaustion,
One Christian Mom