In July we travelled to Virginia to spend two weeks with Brent as he did his two weeks of Reserve duty. It was two weeks in a hotel and I was apprehensive. Two weeks of a lot of togetherness could be awesome or awful! I tried to approach the preparations with an open mind and a LOT of activities for the kids. It wasn't hard to imagine the havoc that three bored children could wreck on a hotel room, so my mission was constant involvement! I took a huge box of activities, a bag of books and lots of movies. Couple that with some awesome snacks, and the kids were ready for some serious fun!
We spent the beginning of our mornings at the continental breakfast, which was always a bit stressful for me and always entertaining to the other guests. Brent left for work LONG before we were ready for breakfast, so it was just me attempting to get all four of us fed without creating too big of a scene. Thankfully, one of the hotel staff took a liking to the kids and she lent me a hand on the mornings she worked. I'm not sure what I would have done without Ms. Laura. Tristan was disapointed that she wouldn't be going home with us! One particularly funny morning, the kids were watching commercials on the TV of the breakfast room when a commercial came on for a hair removal product. Tristan remarked(loudly) that we should get that for Daddy. He then said, "Daddy needs that to get the hair off his chest!" I burst out laughing and couldn't help but notice most of the people within hearing distance doing the same. Never a dull moment. We generally transitioned from breakfast straight to the swimming pool, which was a lifesaver! It was over a hundred degrees for many of the days we were in Virginia. The kids had a blast in the water and it was a free and easy activity for me. LOVE!
I generally spent the majority of the rest of the day entertaining kids. I fed the kids lunch in the room every day because I couldn't stand the idea of trying to eat in public for three meals a day! We sprung for a suite while we were there, which meant that I could put the boys down for naps and could still use the other room with Maura. She played puzzles, drew pictures and played on the computer while the boys napped and I was able to enjoy some recreational reading. It's amazing how much more time you have when you don't have to clean!!
We spent the beginning of our mornings at the continental breakfast, which was always a bit stressful for me and always entertaining to the other guests. Brent left for work LONG before we were ready for breakfast, so it was just me attempting to get all four of us fed without creating too big of a scene. Thankfully, one of the hotel staff took a liking to the kids and she lent me a hand on the mornings she worked. I'm not sure what I would have done without Ms. Laura. Tristan was disapointed that she wouldn't be going home with us! One particularly funny morning, the kids were watching commercials on the TV of the breakfast room when a commercial came on for a hair removal product. Tristan remarked(loudly) that we should get that for Daddy. He then said, "Daddy needs that to get the hair off his chest!" I burst out laughing and couldn't help but notice most of the people within hearing distance doing the same. Never a dull moment. We generally transitioned from breakfast straight to the swimming pool, which was a lifesaver! It was over a hundred degrees for many of the days we were in Virginia. The kids had a blast in the water and it was a free and easy activity for me. LOVE!
I generally spent the majority of the rest of the day entertaining kids. I fed the kids lunch in the room every day because I couldn't stand the idea of trying to eat in public for three meals a day! We sprung for a suite while we were there, which meant that I could put the boys down for naps and could still use the other room with Maura. She played puzzles, drew pictures and played on the computer while the boys napped and I was able to enjoy some recreational reading. It's amazing how much more time you have when you don't have to clean!!
Lets just say that our room wasn't always calm, sedate or quiet. I feel very lucky that we never had a noise complaint called on us! I think the walls must have been extra thick in our room because I never heard our neighbors--or maybe it's just that I couldn't hear them over the din that was coming from our room!
We ALL looked forward to the time of the day when Daddy would come home. We loved that he got off work most days at 4:30--especially me!! I would often escape when he came home just to go do laundry and be by myself! My kids are awesome, but there's just SO MANY of them!!
The evenings were our chance to have FUN!! All hands were on deck and it was time to party! We had to eat out every night, with varying degrees of success. Every parent of multiple preschoolers knows how stressful eating out can be. Imagine doing it EVERY night! No thanks! We went to a "nice" restaurant only once and Brent ended up taking Tristan to the potty just after our food arrived and taking Maura out for discipline later in the meal. We ended up leaving the restaurant with Maura wailing and I swore I would never go out to eat with the kids again. Of course I had to break that vow the very next night. Not every experience was awful, though, and we did get to enjoy some great family time. I especially loved watching the kids snuggle with their daddy on the couch every night for bedtime stories and Bible reading. It was just precious! Another evening, we got out into the great outdoors at Shenandoah National Park. It was cool and beautiful up in the Blue Ridge Mountains!
We enjoyed a bug infested picnic, then attempted a hike. I wasn't sure how it would go, and Bennett was not at ALL fond of the hiking backpack, but once we got underway I was glad we went. It was just beautiful in the woods. We were even able to see places where bears had torn at dead logs to get at the bugs inside. The kids LOVED the wild raspberries that grew all along the path and we stopped multiple times to harvest the juicy red berries. Bennett was a BIG fan and looked like a little birdie waiting for a berry to be dropped into his little mouth!
Right before we went into the woods we came face to face with this doe, who was not at all afraid of us. I approached within about fifteen feet of her before she finally walked away. So beautiful. Later, we came upon three deer grazing and the kids had a great time scaring them away. In fact, I think this little jaunt into nature was one of little tree huggers' favorite experiences!
Sunset on the Blue Ridge Mountains. Just gorgeous! We were so blessed to get out into God's creation and enjoy it so much. I hope we are able to visit Shenandoah National Park again someday when the kids are able to enjoy a more extensive hike. Maybe next time we'll see a bear!
1 comment:
Easy is not the word I would pick for Hotel Living, but it sure makes for memories!!
Post a Comment