Aaaaannnnndddd, We're Off!

We left in the late afternoon on Thursday and even though we chose the "freeway" option on our GPS, we traveled 3+ hours of back roads into North Carolina. (We really need to update our GPS maps!) However, the drive was GORGEOUS!!  After all the recent storms which tore through the area, everything seemed brighter and cleaner, the sky bluer and the grass greener.  This only served to intensify my excitement as we drove along singing Caedmon's Call songs as loud as we could!

Abby was barely able to contain herself. She asked us every 20 minutes if we were at the hotel yet.  She called it our apartment and day-dreamed aloud about the layout of the room (and all the snacks we would eat in the room) for nearly 3 hours!

Caed was asleep within 10 minutes of the drive. :)

Once we arrived, Abby settled in quickly with all her animals. She, first, made a bed for them and put them all to sleep. Then she found a place for her suitcase and set out her nightgown and slippers next to the bed. Next, she assigned sleeping places for each of us.  I love how every little detail of the room was exciting to her. From the sliding bathroom door to the glow-in-the-dark light switches...it pleased her very much!

Caed seemed really nervous about the change. I can't blame him. He slept for nearly 3 hours in the car and then awoke to a long hallway with carpeting that makes my  head spin! However, once I gave him a few of his "shoo shoo's", "neigh" (horse) and "ooo! ooo!" (monkey), he began to feel right at home.  So much at home, in fact, that he used the phone while we weren't looking.  As in the story of  Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, I think he called Australia. :) We'll wait to see our bill.

Getting the kidlets to bed was no small feat.  I must have answered 500 questions and sang Jesus Loves Me 15 times before they finally dropped off to sleep.

At 6:30 bright and early, Caedmon giggled, popped up from the bed and gave us his best Rooster sound!  Can't help but laugh waking up to that! You can take the boy out of the country, but can't take the country out of the boy!

Abby awoke with "Boy! That was a short night!", and was changing into outfit #1 before 7.

I love experiencing the hotel with the kids. It's all so new and adventurous.  The continental breakfast was merely doughnuts, fruit, yogurt and juice...but Abby thought we were eating breakfast with the Royal family. I'm pretty sure she is convinced this is our castle!

Even Daddy's printer was a source of entertainment. As he printed up 20 copies of the paper he is to present today, both kids sat across from it and watched with great anticipation as each page came out!  It's the small things in life...

And by the way, Dear Hubby's presentation on the Problem of Evil (yeah...he's a philosophy guy) turned out to be a wonderful experience for him!  He even had some guys take him to lunch to discuss some further opportunities! My man amazes me!!

Jump In!

I took the kids to the pool this morning, complete with arm floaties and animal swim rings.  We are ready for water safety! 

Initially, Caed hated it. He screamed and clawed at my neck as I took him deeper and deeper. Abby was thrilled to dive in...until we got there.  So we sat on the pool steps for a very long time waiting for the nerves to settle.  Eventually, other kids from the hotel joined us and all the fun began! Abby couldn't believe that there was a 4 and A HALF year old swimming with us!  Thank you James for helping Abby feel more at ease with swimming!

Caedmon...fearless Caedmon! He always tests the limits, makes Momma's heart stop, then proves to me that all things work out.  At any given moment, he would jump into the the pool or the hot tub. Thank you Walmart for the wonderful arm floaties for which we paid $1.  They work. They really do.
He was kind of cute, though, floating around and kicking those cute little legs. I wish I could have gotten a picture of him jumping into my arms...and sometimes jumping purposefully away from my arms.  The funny thing is, he insisted on lining up his feet over top of the words "No Diving".  Rebel.

I'm continually amazed at the differences in Abby's and Caed's personalities.  Swimming with Caedmon is like swimming with a fish. You can't hold on to him...you just have to keep up.  Swimming with dear Abby is like swimming with an octopus.  She would grip onto any part of my body that she could find and hang on for dear life.  I see swimming lessons in our future.

You Have Arrived!

I love our GPS....

Well, in theory I love it. I appreciate having a voice there to direct me every mile of the journey. And if I mess up, "Mag" (as we call her), is there immediately with an alternate route to help me reach my destination.


But...then there are times that dear, sweet Mag has failed me. Such as the last five minutes of our journey. I drove the troop down to North Carolina and even survived traffic once we finally hit the freeway.  Feeling pretty proud of myself and thinking over my speech of victory that I would share with my mom on the phone, I came upon a snag.  Or an infinite intersection, if you will.

Mag tells me to turn right, but there is no right. I go straight. She tells me to make a legal u-turn. I do. She tells me to turn left, but there is no left. I go straight. She tells me to make a legal u-turn....and on we go until I nearly dissolve in tears, whip the car off the road and hop out allowing Dear Hubby to take over...5 minutes from the hotel.

Or the time that we attempted to leave Wake Forest and Mag led us through a series of left and rights only to dump us into an unknown recently developed part of town. Clearly there were street signs and traffic lights...but according to Mag's map, we were in the middle of a field. hmmm.

Twice we wanted to try out the local scene and find a groovy coffee shop. Mag assured us that there would be a happy, indigenous, coffee beanery just 2 miles away. Several u-turns later we discovered that the local population must prefer discount tires to groovy coffee because the beanery is no longer there.  Yet, Mag was confident when she said, "You have arrived!"

Even though we had directions at our fingertips, we still managed to get lost. What we needed was not simply directions, but an accurate overview of our destination.  There's a sermon illustration in here somewhere. But for now, the only thing that keeps coming to mind is Abby's memory verse from church:

" Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Psalm 119:105

Top 10 Things To Do To Entertain Small Children In a Hotel

This is what we did for 2 days at the hotel.

10. Play dough

9. Color wonder markers and coloring pads.

8. Cable I realized how little TV my children watch because the Disney Channel was just as thrilling as seeing Mickey Mouse in person! They were even captivated by the Spanish version of "Sesame Street".

7. Continental Breakfast The kids LOVED eating "breakfast" in the lobby and meeting new people. Most of the guests were staying at the hotel for a wedding. We actually got to know some of them and even had "our table" where we sat next to the same group each morning. By Sunday, Abby felt free enough to roam around and talk to her new friends.

6. Other people's kids. It's great when kids entertain other kids.

5. Pool. We spent HOURS at the pool. Loved it!!

4. Going on an adventure through the local village. We decided to explore our surroundings and walk to a nearby shopping area. We found an excellent Mediterranean restaurant. Shwarma chicken...YUM! We also discovered a field of cat-tails, a fire truck and many tiny "villages" (i.e. sidewalks with park benches) that provided an thrilling story line of Robin Hood delivering food to the poor.

3. Goodwill shopping. I discovered something cool about my daughter.  She loves to go Goodwill shopping. I bought her a cute 3 piece outfit before the trip. I was so excited to surprise her with it...but she was less than thrilled at the matchy-matchy, cute-sy outfit I picked out.  BUT, take that girl to a Goodwill and she strings together some random outfits that sometimes are cute. At any rate, she has her own style which I think is cool.


2. Snacks. We ate a lot of snacks...and even the most mundane cereal snacks seem more exciting in a hotel room!

1. Luggage Cart. Nothing is more fun than loading up the luggage cart and letting the smallest one push it. Okay okay..this was as we were leaving. But my little Caedmon LOVES to work hard, especially with Daddy.