Ok, just so I don’t ramble on toods much, here is the wrap up of our “surprise” trip to Western PA.

Wednesday:

I spent the day packing and loading the car with 2 pack.n.plays, a walker and our suitcase.  We decided that instead of cooking and making a mess in the kitchen, we would go to Son.ic.  I found one not too far from our house (about 14 miles or so) and off we went.  The hubby had never been to one and I think he really liked it.  There are very few things that cost less than $3 that make me happy, but the Butterfinger son.ic blast is pretty much at the top of the list.  We came home and put the kids to bed and tried to get some sleep.  I had this idea that if we travelled overnight, there was a good chance that the kids would sleep.  So, we woke up at midnight, loaded the kids, and off we went.  I drove the first leg of the trip….about 12:15 am to 4:30 am.  Most of that time, the kids did NOT sleep.  They fussed.  And fussed.  And fussed.  The hubby saw most of the state of PA looking out the rear view window.  When my eyes finally gave out and I started to see double, I asked the hubby to drive.  He hadn’t had much of a chance to sleep as the kids didn’t putter out until nearly 3:30 am.

Thursday…(the wee small hours)

The hubby drove and I woke up about 5:45am after a much needed nap.  I have always had the ability to fall asleep anywhere…(I used to train software and travelled nationwide….I slept on airplanes…sleeping through take offs and landings)  We arrived at 6:15 am.  I called my mother and asked her if she saw any turkeys in her front yard.  She was perplexed.  Then I told her, “you have two big turkeys and two little turkeys in your front yard”.  Again, she had no idea what I was talking about…. (please keep in mind, my mother had surgery on her foot in October and has been in a chair since the surgery and is forbidden to bear any weight on her foot until January.)  Then I asked her if she saw any headlights in her drive way.  And then she got it!!!!!!!!!  She squealed with delight!!!  My Aunt was visiting and helping Mom out and knew we were coming…Mom was really surprised!!!  We got the kids unloaded and despite them wearing overnight diapers, they were SOAKED!  So, we changed them into pajamas.  We set up the pack.n.plays (one in each of the gues rooms) and prayed the kids would go back to sleep.  Yeah right………..no such luck.

Thursday….

The hubby got a nap.  I dealt with the kids.  Daniel was extra fussy….he managed to pick up a cold….go figure….he was just at the pediatricians office, of course he would come home with a cold….(I swear they do not wipe down the toys in the waiting room…..and why should they….they are in business too….)  And Daniel was also cutting two more teeth…. Yeah! So a cold, two teeth, chicken pox and eczema.  He was a real delight.  Melissa was just crabby because she was tired.

Thursday Afternoon…

Dinner was a treat. (please note sarcasm…..) For whatever reason, my aunt decided to throw the traditional menu out the window and do her own thing…..so, we had turkey, potatoes and then she made stuffing from a box, Sweet potatoes from a box, and brussel sprouts.  OMG………….yucko!  We have ALWAYS made homemade stuffing.  It is a tradition.  And no one eats sweet potatoes.  And brusselsprouts…..is their a yuckier food out there?  If there is, I have never tasted it.  We also had an apple pie and my aunt’s version of a chocolate pie.  It was no where near as good as my mother’s cooking and not to brag….but I could have made a tastier meal with one arm tied behind my back.  ( We are going back from Christmas and I have made a deal with my Dad that I will do the cooking, make the coffee, etc…..)  There is always a coffee war at my parent’s house.  Dad makes it too strong, my aunt makes it too weak…..I normally try to just leave the house and go to the coffee shop around the block so no one’s feelings get hurt.

The kids had some turkey and some potatoes and seemed to enjoy making a mess.  I was just exhausted by this point and wanted to do nothing but sleep.  The rest of the day was kind of a blur….

Friday:

It should have been a nice relaxing day, but Melissa managed to pick up Daniel’s cold so we had two sick babies.  It was a rough night for Daniel (who slept in bed with his Daddy in one of the guest rooms while I slept on the world’s most uncomfortable single bed while Melissa slept in her pack.n.play)  The hubby went out and picked up a nasal aspirator for the kids (the one item I did NOT pack).  The day flew by and we decided that we would have Chinese food for lunch….(again, not a tradition….what the heck ever happened to turkey sandwiches?)  The Chinese food was kinda yucky…the fried rice was YELLOW!!!!  I ate my sesame chicken and some of the yellow rice and tossed the rest in the trash.  Well, Miss Melissa, who was tooling around in the walker, found the trash can, and the Chinese food container…and well, she liked the yellow rice…

Saturday:

We got up and got the kids dressed and loaded and hit the road.  I am glad that we left on Saturday instead of waiting until yesterday like everyone else.  We had a nice drive home, in bright sunshine, but it was cold.  We stopped once to change the kids and were like a nascar pit crew.  We each grabbed a kid, a diaper and a wipe, put the kid on the front seat, changed, redressed and put them back in their carseats.  Wham, bam, thank you ma’am!  We got home and the kids were so happy to see their doggies and more so, all of their toys.  Melissa crawled into the toy box………

And the best part……….

Saturday night the kids S L E P T   A L L  N I G H T  L O N G!    FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, we just relaxed.  The weather was crappy.  We were going to do some Christmas decorating but I think we were all just too wiped out.

So there you have it…..

So, we finally got out of here around 1 PM on Friday to drive to Mom and Dad’s for the weekend.