The house is quieter
Well, the vacation is over and it was time to take Hannah home yesterday. I had to wake them up at 8:30 and they were exhausted the whole way home. They were very good though and got up, brushed teeth, got dressed (sort of - they wanted to stay in pjs), right when I said and we only left 6 minutes late. Not bad.
Then 30 minutes into the trip the DVD player broke. Yeah. They're both really tired and don't want to play, so the DVD player was my hope for a nice, quiet trip. So Hannah digs for her little toy computer, and the batteries last 20 seconds. The second it turns off, she announces she has to go to the bathroom even though she went an hour ago. Hmmm......then she says she has to go really bad. So we pull over and go potty, get gas, and I offer to buy them a donut or something. They say no, but Hannah NEEDS new batteries. She's not sure if they're AA or AAA, but she wants me to buy both just in case. At gas station prices I said no way! We crossed our fingers, got in the long line, and bought the AA. TWENTY minutes later we got back in the car, we haven't even hit the traffic yet, and I'm feeling like we're going to spend the day playing catch up. Hannah has a hard time getting the batteries in right and says nevermind. I said, oh no you don't. Those were expensive, you're using them. (Yeah, the last day I'm not nearly as nice as the first day.) While speeding down the highway, I get them in right, and she used the computer for about 3 minutes. I should have known! I should have said no and dealt with the pout. They were so tired they spend most of the trip staring out the front windshield like zombies. Yeah, I know how they feel! Lol!
We hit a bunch of traffic where my stress level was really high because I knew we were going to be late. Elisabeth graciously agreed to leave early because I asked her to, then we were going to be late. Yeah, I felt like a jerk. I texted her because she said she was there about an hour before we were going to get there! I drove 85 miles an hour every second I could to try to make up the time. It turns out, she needed to spend 20 minutes pumping (since she left her nursing baby at home), and then was able to enjoy lunch by herself (since she left Ryan at home too!). So, needless to say, she was NOT upset that we were late. (Especially since Kara had to potty a SECOND time and we stopped AGAIN!) Yeah, lots of CAPS and !! I was so stressed out by then.
We had a great lunch together at McDonalds - I shoved in the food as fast as possible because we had to leave by 1 to beat the traffic. I decided to de-stress and not look at the clock or the speedometer the whole way home and it worked. No stress on the way home. No traffic either (thanks to Liz for leaving early for me). :-) Kara slept for over an hour, which she never does in the car, and we were home by 4:15.
I unloaded the car, changed Kara's sheets, and cleaned up. Then we went out to dinner with my parents and exchanged stories about each other's vacations. On our way home, I was thinking it should be bed time soon, right? I actually got to hang out with Michael - which was so nice - and then it was early to bed for all of us! Kara went right to sleep and so did I. This week I have to clean my filthy house, pay the bills, and relax.
Oh, and did I mention that right before bed I was able to get the DVD player working?
Ahh, good memories, good pictures, another GREAT vacation with my sweet, sweet niece Hannah.
Then 30 minutes into the trip the DVD player broke. Yeah. They're both really tired and don't want to play, so the DVD player was my hope for a nice, quiet trip. So Hannah digs for her little toy computer, and the batteries last 20 seconds. The second it turns off, she announces she has to go to the bathroom even though she went an hour ago. Hmmm......then she says she has to go really bad. So we pull over and go potty, get gas, and I offer to buy them a donut or something. They say no, but Hannah NEEDS new batteries. She's not sure if they're AA or AAA, but she wants me to buy both just in case. At gas station prices I said no way! We crossed our fingers, got in the long line, and bought the AA. TWENTY minutes later we got back in the car, we haven't even hit the traffic yet, and I'm feeling like we're going to spend the day playing catch up. Hannah has a hard time getting the batteries in right and says nevermind. I said, oh no you don't. Those were expensive, you're using them. (Yeah, the last day I'm not nearly as nice as the first day.) While speeding down the highway, I get them in right, and she used the computer for about 3 minutes. I should have known! I should have said no and dealt with the pout. They were so tired they spend most of the trip staring out the front windshield like zombies. Yeah, I know how they feel! Lol!
We hit a bunch of traffic where my stress level was really high because I knew we were going to be late. Elisabeth graciously agreed to leave early because I asked her to, then we were going to be late. Yeah, I felt like a jerk. I texted her because she said she was there about an hour before we were going to get there! I drove 85 miles an hour every second I could to try to make up the time. It turns out, she needed to spend 20 minutes pumping (since she left her nursing baby at home), and then was able to enjoy lunch by herself (since she left Ryan at home too!). So, needless to say, she was NOT upset that we were late. (Especially since Kara had to potty a SECOND time and we stopped AGAIN!) Yeah, lots of CAPS and !! I was so stressed out by then.
We had a great lunch together at McDonalds - I shoved in the food as fast as possible because we had to leave by 1 to beat the traffic. I decided to de-stress and not look at the clock or the speedometer the whole way home and it worked. No stress on the way home. No traffic either (thanks to Liz for leaving early for me). :-) Kara slept for over an hour, which she never does in the car, and we were home by 4:15.
I unloaded the car, changed Kara's sheets, and cleaned up. Then we went out to dinner with my parents and exchanged stories about each other's vacations. On our way home, I was thinking it should be bed time soon, right? I actually got to hang out with Michael - which was so nice - and then it was early to bed for all of us! Kara went right to sleep and so did I. This week I have to clean my filthy house, pay the bills, and relax.
Oh, and did I mention that right before bed I was able to get the DVD player working?
Ahh, good memories, good pictures, another GREAT vacation with my sweet, sweet niece Hannah.
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