Friday, June 24, 2011

Life - Knowing How to Turn a Door Knob

Since Mady has learned to open doors, bedtime has become very not-easy! She does not stay in her bed, or her room. If I get up in the middle of the night I have to be careful where I step because who knows where she might be sleeping. Usually it is in the hall, right outside her bedroom door, on the hardwood floors. You also never know what she will be wearing. I have found her completely dressed (in regular clothes, not pajamas), I have found her completely naked, I have found her in her tutus, I have found her in as many as 7 pairs of panties and just this morning (at 2:45) I found her like this:



That is the stinky boys bathroom next to her and the door at the top right corner of the picture is her bedroom. And, she has her Pinkalicious book with her :) She is wearing a night gown AND pajama pants this time. I tried to move her to her bed and was up for the next hour trying to get her to go to sleep. Then she was up to stay around 5:45!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A "BORING" Girls Trip to Florida

For a while now, a friend and I have been trying to get away for a little trip - just the two of us. We were going to do it the year we turned 30, but I had Mads instead. A few months ago, my wonderful husband did lots of research, found us a great deal, booked it, paid for it and sent me the info. We were going to Florida and staying on the beach!

Emily and I have been friends for almost *cough* 20 years. This is the first time we have ever done anything like this. She lives in Texas and I live in Louisiana, so we don't get to see each very often, although we "talk" (through texting and IMing) every day. It was nice to get away from everything and both of us have a VERY relaxing vacation!

We got checked into our hotel around 3:30 and we were on the beach before 4! I was more relaxed in the short amount of time we were out there before dinner than I had been in YEARS! By the next morning, my brain was turned off. It was such a different beach experience with no kids. At first it was weird not carrying a ton of stuff down to the beach and watching kids every move. But, I QUICKLY began enjoying this new experience - and LOVING it. Don't get me wrong, I love taking my kids to the beach. But, as I have said before, I do not consider taking five kids anywhere a vacation. I call them business trips.

THIS was a VACATION!

The only choices we had to make each day were beach or pool and what are we having for dinner (we went to the grocery store so we did not even have to leave for breakfast or lunch). It was awesomeness! The hotel had two pools and a hot tub. The big pool had a waterfall in it, and inside the rock under the waterfall was a bar. It was also a COLD pool! We got in once and that was enough for us. We used the hot tub several nights and I got in the heated pool a couple of times.

Mostly, though, we chilled at the beach :) Paul would ask if we were having fun and my response was always "yeah, in a relaxing, do nothing kind of way" which he always replied was boring.

A boring vacation is just what I needed! I VERY rarely have anything "boring" in my life, so yes, I am at the point in my life where I apparently crave boring (and I didn't even know I was craving it).

The water was pretty rough while we were there, and got rougher by the day. There was a lot of seaweed and it wasn't as clear as it normally is. The last day (of course) the water was still rough, but it was beautiful and clear. I did not go very far into the water until the last day. On Monday night when we went out to take some pics there was a sign at the water that said Do Not Enter - Rip Current! Between not being able to see in the water, and the fear of rip currents (which we were warned about a lot) I was content to lie in the sand!

The drive home was good until we got to the Mississippi side of Alabama. We had a a pretty heavy, short rain. Then, as soon as we got in Louisiana it was a DOWNPOUR! I don't like driving in rain. After a while I realized my hands hurt from squeezing the steering wheel so hard. We could not see in front of us, lots of water on the road, high winds, everyone driving between 35 and 40 with their flashers on. I wanted to exit and sit it out, but we could not even see the signs on the side of the road TO exit!

As nice as it was to go, it was nice to come home too! The kids were super excited when we got back. And I was too, especially since I came home to a spotless house (he even did all the laundry)!!