Mini Vacation

Ryan went to the big city this week for a couple of days on a business trip.  On Monday night we spontaneously decided that the kids and I would come up for a night, use the hotel room, pool, and make a mini vacation out of it.  It seemed like a good idea in theory.  The reality was a cranky two year old and nine month old who aren't used to going on trips, staying in strange rooms/beds and having their nap schedules interrupted.

The trip didn't start out too bad, but because of a couple of errands that I needed to run the kids had their naps in the car interrupted and never fell back asleep.  I arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon, stopped by the front desk to get a room key and grabbed a luggage cart to help me move our bags into the room.  Normally I don't use those hotel luggage carts, but when you have two little kids, several bags, a pack n' play and the kitchen sink those carts quickly turn into a necessity.  Of course that necessity can easily turn into a catastrophe.  Aric was left standing on the sidewalk next to the cart, Kellyn was in the car and I was trying to get everything loaded up.  Aric had been pushing on the cart and I told him to leave it alone, stand there and wait for mommy.  I walked to the trunk to grab the last bag when I heard a crash.  Sure enough Aric had pushed the cart right off the sidewalk and tipped it over.  On the way down the clothes bar on top of the cart hit my front driver's side quarter panel gouging the paint and denting the car.  This was probably the point where I should have realized this trip wasn't going to turn out so well.

I managed to get everything put back together (except for the car) and the kids and luggage into the hotel room.  We all had a snack and then headed down to the pool.  The kids and I spent a good part of the afternoon playing in the pool.  Afterwards the kids and I went back to the room, cleaned up and then I fed them dinner while we waited for Ryan.  After he arrived we headed out for dinner.  We drove around for 30 min because both kids fell asleep in the car.  Aric was prompt about it and Kellyn cried before finally caving in.  After their short nap they were somewhat refreshed and we were able to have dinner and walk around for a bit.

The room only had a king size bed in it.  We decided Aric could sleep with us and Kellyn would sleep in her pack n' play.  We forgot to mention that little detail to her.  She would not sleep in the pack n' play and because we couldn't really let her cry it out she ended up in the bed with us.  It was a long, sleepless night.  Ryan had to go to work exhausted and I was left with two crabby, naughty kids who just needed more sleep. 

Thankfully the mini-vacation is now over with.  The kids are both happier after taking long naps in the car.  I, however, am exhausted with mounds of laundry left to do before returning to work tomorrow.  I don't think I'll be taking another mini-vacation for quite awhile!