Friday morning we checked out of our resort at 9:15am and drove back to my Aunt Tina's condo in Ponte Vedra Beach (near Jacksonville). We spent a little time at the beach, and then we had cake and she gave us presents. She gave Paul a bag of cashews as his graduation gift (we received his diploma in the mail today), a few little things for Nadia and Ian, and she gave me an amethyst ring that her mother (my Grandma) had given to her years ago. It was very sweet of her! Around 4pm we said our goodbyes and drove to the airport. After we had gone through security, we found out that our flight was delayed. We didn't take off until after 8pm. The kids did very well on the flight. Oliver slept in my arms almost the whole flight, and Ian sat beside me. Nadia sat beside Paul. We arrived in DC around 10pm, and as you can see from the picture (at left) the kids conked out in the stroller while we were getting our luggage. My parents drove their SUV and our minivan to the airport. We left directly for home in our van, and Paul's parents rode back to my parents' house to get their vehicle. We both arrived at our respective homes between 2-2:30am.
My least favorite parts of going on vacation are #1 packing and all the other things that have to be done to prepare, #2 the travel days (both coming and going), and #3 all the laundry and unpacking that need to be done when we get back. The days in between are certainly worth the hassles at the beginning and end of the trip, although when I first get home the thought of going on vacation again is ususally unappealing, but then over time I get excited about our next trip.
This time around the kids and I were gone for 12 nights - 3 at my parents, 2 at Paul's aunt and uncle's house, and 7 in Orlando. There were 4 days when we were on the road for at least 3 hours - the drive to Maryland, the drive to Orlando, the drive back to Jacksonville, and the drive back home. None of these drives were pleasant because Oliver didn't sleep much (which means he cried a lot). The most unpleasant one was the one on the way back home because there were several times when all three children were crying at the same time. Ian would wake up after sleeping for 30-45 minutes and would start crying. That would wake up Oliver who would start crying, and then his crying would wake up Nadia and she would cry as well as yell at Oliver to stop crying. Oi vey. There was one stretch where Ian slept for 90 minutes straight (midnight to 1:30am), and I was able to sleep for about one hour during that time as Paul was driving. I then slept from 2:30-6:30am in my own bed. I was amazed at how much energy I had today despite getting only 5 hours of sleep.
This morning Oliver got up at 6:30. Ian got up shortly after that but he fell back asleep in our bed with Paul. Nadia and Ian were still asleep at 7:45am, and I was struggling with whether to wake Nadia up or not. I finally decided to wake her up because part of the reason we had come home so late at night on Friday was because she had a soccer game at 9am. I thought she'd only miss one game while we were on vacation, but a game that was supposed to happen before we left was rescheduled for a Thursday while we were in Florida. If she had missed today's game, she would have missed half of the eight games. Oliver and I stayed home so that Oliver could take a nap in his crib, and I could mow the lawn, which REALLY needed to be mowed. Paul had missed her second and third game. He told me she *almost* scored a goal, but someone from the opposing team got the ball away from her just as she was about to kick it into the goal. She did score one goal today, but it was for the opposing team. OOPS! At least that means she kicked the ball!
We went into high gear today with getting the house ready to put on the market. The realtor is coming on Wednesday so we can sign the paperwork and such. We're praying it doesn't take too long to sell the house, in part because it's going to be so hard to keep the house "show ready" with three little munchkins. Plus I was busy with doing dishes, laundry, unpacking, mowing the lawn, etc. Paul did some weedwhacking, spackling, and sanding. The two things I need to work on as we get back to "normal" are #1 helping Ian have a more balanced diet (he had pizza for dinner almost every night) and #2 helping Oliver get back into a good routine with his naps. NONE of his naps were very long during the 13 days we were away from home, even when he took a nap in a pack and play. Today I had to help him get back to sleep in the middle of his morning nap, which normally I don't have to do, but I understand that he's all out of whack due to the trip. Well I have so much more to write about and SOOO many more pictures to post, but I need to go to bed!
Friday morning we checked out of our resort at 9:15am and drove back to my Aunt Tina's condo in Ponte Vedra Beach (near Jacksonville). We spent a little time at the beach, and then we had cake and she gave us presents. She gave Paul a bag of cashews as his graduation gift (we received his diploma in the mail today), a few little things for Nadia and Ian, and she gave me an amethyst ring that her mother (my Grandma) had given to her years ago. It was very sweet of her! Around 4pm we said our goodbyes and drove to the airport. After we had gone through security, we found out that our flight was delayed. We didn't take off until after 8pm. The kids did very well on the flight. Oliver slept in my arms almost the whole flight, and Ian sat beside me. Nadia sat beside Paul. We arrived in DC around 10pm, and as you can see from the picture (at left) the kids conked out in the stroller while we were getting our luggage. My parents drove their SUV and our minivan to the airport. We left directly for home in our van, and Paul's parents rode back to my parents' house to get their vehicle. We both arrived at our respective homes between 2-2:30am.
My least favorite parts of going on vacation are #1 packing and all the other things that have to be done to prepare, #2 the travel days (both coming and going), and #3 all the laundry and unpacking that need to be done when we get back. The days in between are certainly worth the hassles at the beginning and end of the trip, although when I first get home the thought of going on vacation again is ususally unappealing, but then over time I get excited about our next trip. 
This time around the kids and I were gone for 12 nights - 3 at my parents, 2 at Paul's aunt and uncle's house, and 7 in Orlando. There were 4 days when we were on the road for at least 3 hours - the drive to Maryland, the drive to Orlando, the drive back to Jacksonville, and the drive back home. None of these drives were pleasant because Oliver didn't sleep much (which means he cried a lot). The most unpleasant one was the one on the way back home because there were several times when all three children were crying at the same time. Ian would wake up after sleeping for 30-45 minutes and would start crying. That would wake up Oliver who would start crying, and then his crying would wake up Nadia and she would cry as well as yell at Oliver to stop crying. Oi vey. There was one stretch where Ian slept for 90 minutes straight (midnight to 1:30am), and I was able to sleep for about one hour during that time as Paul was driving. I then slept from 2:30-6:30am in my own bed. I was amazed at how much energy I had today despite getting only 5 hours of sleep.
This morning Oliver got up at 6:30. Ian got up shortly after that but he fell back asleep in our bed with Paul. Nadia and Ian were still asleep at 7:45am, and I was struggling with whether to wake Nadia up or not. I finally decided to wake her up because part of the reason we had come home so late at night on Friday was because she had a soccer game at 9am. I thought she'd only miss one game while we were on vacation, but a game that was supposed to happen before we left was rescheduled for a Thursday while we were in Florida. If she had missed today's game, she would have missed half of the eight games. Oliver and I stayed home so that Oliver could take a nap in his crib, and I could mow the lawn, which REALLY needed to be mowed. Paul had missed her second and third game. He told me she *almost* scored a goal, but someone from the opposing team got the ball away from her just as she was about to kick it into the goal. She did score one goal today, but it was for the opposing team. OOPS! At least that means she kicked the ball!
We went into high gear today with getting the house ready to put on the market. The realtor is coming on Wednesday so we can sign the paperwork and such. We're praying it doesn't take too long to sell the house, in part because it's going to be so hard to keep the house "show ready" with three little munchkins. Plus I was busy with doing dishes, laundry, unpacking, mowing the lawn, etc. Paul did some weedwhacking, spackling, and sanding. The two things I need to work on as we get back to "normal" are #1 helping Ian have a more balanced diet (he had pizza for dinner almost every night) and #2 helping Oliver get back into a good routine with his naps. NONE of his naps were very long during the 13 days we were away from home, even when he took a nap in a pack and play. Today I had to help him get back to sleep in the middle of his morning nap, which normally I don't have to do, but I understand that he's all out of whack due to the trip. Well I have so much more to write about and SOOO many more pictures to post, but I need to go to bed!
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