N (4) kept saying, "I'm so happy we're home. I'm so happy we're home." My sentiments exactly. She was very happy to see our kitty, C______. I've never been very into traveling and have always thought of a vacation as something that makes me appreciate my own home and life more. This trip succeeded in doing just that.
It's very good to be home. The trip... More soon after I get a chance to turn my notes into beautiful prose, or at least prose. I actually need to process a little too. A lot happened. Here's the fluffy stuff.
Logistically it was a good trip. I'm so glad we put K (2) and T (9.5 months) in single umbrella strollers for the time in the airport rather than taking the double stroller. The single umbrella strollers are so much lighter, easier to push, and the girls can't touch each other (and wake each other up if one is asleep or even bug one another).
The trip this year was much easier than the one last year when N was 3, K was 1, and I was 6 months pregnant. Pretty much the thing that kept me smiling this trip was the fact that I was NOT pregnant. (I kept going last year because that's what I do. And I try not to complain. However, after the fact, and here on my blog, I will complain. That's one of the myriad of reasons for this blog.)
(Did I tell you how I had Braxton Hicks contractions so frequently last year that we ended up in the local L & D one night because I was so freaked? I was about 29 weeks pregnant last year at this time on this trip. Everything was fine and T didn't show up until about 41 weeks, but all the BH contractions were scary. I felt foolish after having gone to the hospital, but better safe than sorry, right? The trip this year was physically tiring, but not like last year.)
Emotionally, the trip was a roller coaster. I have been away from home a long time. Big family event. Lots of people. All a little odd. I'll talk more about this later. This is the stuff I really need to process.
Some funny/light fluffy things about the three little girls...
N (4) wanted to be the prettiest princess. She wouldn't wear her little yoga pants that matched her sisters because she only wanted to wear princess dresses and be the prettiest of all.
This is the girl who was into crawler back-hoes, dump trucks and trains last year. Way into them. She's very funny. She wouldn't even wear this cute little black skirt I got her because, "black isn't pretty."
(Did I tell you that when N was two, I made up a song for her about dump trucks? I did. It's a good one.)
K (2) also began expressing opinions on what clothes she would wear on this trip. If all 3 little girls are going to have clothing opinions we're so in for it.
Because I'm a nursing Mom (and eating for 3; me, K and T), I eat a lot of food. (A LOT! And yet I still manage to lose .5 lbs a week.) (Really, you'd be shocked by how much I eat.)
So because of my need for a lot of food, we went to get ice cream at this place I love, and we went almost every night. One of the few things from my childhood that I will still eat. One of my total guilty pleasures. (BAD! But yet, the scale still went down!) (Love this tandem nursing thing!)
(Oh, K (2) did not nurse about 2 days on the trip. I don't know if it is the start of weaning or just because she was so discombobulated. I'll keep you posted on that. If your non-lactating husband ever talks you out of bringing your pump on a trip, don't listen to him! That's all I'm saying. I had a very sore spot for a day and really really really really missed my pump.)
The girls (N & K) learned the ice cream routine pretty quickly. They started calling it the "ice cream patch" and demanding to go as soon as it was dark. I don't know why they called it that.
The "ice cream patch" had a drive-thru and it was significantly easier to go through the drive-thru than to get everyone out of the car. N (4) hasn't really seen a drive-thru before. We have them where we live, but we never go to them. She was fascinated by the drive-thru and wanted to "talk to the sign" too.
T (9.5 months) has totally mastered waving and almost has figured out clapping. She crawled all over the place and ate lots of paper off my parents' floor. I'm sure she also ate some flower petals. T was a really excellent baby girl the entire trip. She had a hard time napping and sleeping but really, I can't complain at all. She waved, smiled, and made friends with everyone.
My Mom's house is the least childproofed house. Lots of breakable things right at baby height. I went through it and picked up many things, but it was still an accident waiting to happen. At one point I went to the bathroom with K (2) and K saw that my Mom had left straight pins (from her corsage) on the counter. K was, of course, fascinated by them and picked them up and nearly gouged her eyes out.
I'm tired. It's good to be home.
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