Home again, Home again

Jiggity Jig. Today was the first day back to reality after Spring Break and despite the fact that my house is still basically a mess, I've been eating WAY too much leftover Easter candy, and the kids' sleeping schedule is totally whacked after a weekend with the cousins -- it was totally worth it. We left on Thursday afternoon for Indiana and got back on Sunday night with lots of fun and games packed in between -- including, but not limited to, the minor casualty of a dangling back bumper threatening to break free almost the whole entire drive there (solidly remedied with a bit of duct tape and determination for the drive back), a girl's trip to Chicago, and some Easter festivities as well. When we vacation, we vacation.




Chicago was -- in a word -- awesome. And difficult. Probably in that order. As the American Girl website says -- it's not just a store, it's an experience. And man was it an experience. The drive to Chicago was fairly painless, the walk from the hotel to the American Girl Place was fairly LONG, and the meltdowns that ensued were fairly predictable. To put it shortly, it was a really warm day and the walk to the store took about 15-20 minutes longer than Grace was capable of handling -- especially after getting little sleep the night before and not having any water to drink on the way there. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Sophie running over with glee to grab a Felicity doll as soon as we walked in the store, but I was a bit distracted by Grace's antics and the fact that we were barely making it on time for our Tea Time check-in.

Top things that were awesome? The store. Amazing. The tea was adorable and the servers were SO helpful and accommodating with Sophie's food allergies. The girls LOVED being with their cousin Hannah for the trip, and I am truly fortunate in that I really do love my in-laws, so road-tripping with Kristin was like hanging out with the older sister that I never had. The weather, while a bit warm, was absolutely PERFECT on the day we got there and Chicago seems like a really cool city.

Top things that were difficult? Jane having 4 poopy diaper blow-outs in the course of 48 hours necessitating complete outfit changes from head-to-toe. Sophie's schizophrenic mood changes -- which in her defense I think were exacerbated by the fact that she was just recovering from a week with her stomach bug and very little sleep. And finally Jane waking up every 3 hours all night long and screaming and crying because she was so disoriented and thrown off her schedule (and trying to quiet her down and get her to go back to sleep while sharing one hotel room).

All-in-all, I'd do it again in a heart beat. Here are the pictures to tell the story:

Ready to go on Friday morning.

Outfit change #1.

The mecca.

Beginning of meltdown #1.

Pleased as punch with her new doll.

Not quite ready to smile.

And mollified by a Berry Fruit Smoothie.

The menu.

The goodies.

Sophie's spread.

And the triumphant exit from the store. (For the record I came in UNDER budget for what I allotted for this trip.)

Meltdown #27.

She's just so good.

And conked out in the stroller.

Cute cousins cozied up at bedtime.

Ready to go home.

This next section I'd like to entitle "Kindred Spirits." One of the really fun things about this trip was seeing Hannah become so comfortable around us. By the end of the trip she wasn't afraid to let her true colors come shining through. The result? She and Grace got along famously. And here are the pictures to prove it.






All I said was "smile" and on cue they both started mugging for the camera. Can you imagine how much fun they will have in college if they are both out at BYU together??

Unfortunately, Saturday dawned rainy and gray and nipped any hopes of sightseeing in the bud. In the end we drove around the city for a bit before deciding we should just head on back home.

View of Chicago's skyline from the front seat.

The rest of the weekend back in Indiana was beautiful and the kids were in HEAVEN. Easter was a hit and the kids were able to enjoy a visit from the Easter bunny, an impromptu Easter Egg Hunt, and a little (and I do mean little) General Conference to boot.

Schizo Sophie emerges again with a scowl one minute...

and an "I really love these!" squeal the next.




The money shot.






Cute little cousins.


These pajamas inspired the funniest line of the whole vacation -- when Hannah saw her wearing these at bedtime in Chicago, she told her she looked like "a hobo." Ahahahahahaha.


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And surprised (and spoiled) with an Easter package from Papi when we got home.


And the reason why I'm still eating Easter candy...

While Spring Break was really fun, I kind of like being back to our regular schedule and routine. On just today alone I managed to get quite a bit done. Passing my driving test? Check. Circumventing a long wait in the BMV line by grabbing my number BEFORE I took the test? Check. Juggling all 4 kids at the dentist while Grace and Ethan had their semi-annual cleaning? Check. Finally getting around to balancing the check book? Check. Getting a hot meal on the table for dinner? Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Hahahaha. Thank goodness for Tuesday night cereal night. I don't know how I'd manage without it.

Alright, I'm almost done here. Before I finish up, I want to send out a congrats to my little sister Sarah on finding out that another GIRL will be added to our family come August! She sent the kids a cute little Easter package a couple of weeks ago with an egg for each of them in it which when opened had candy in it and a slip of paper telling them what she was having. They were so excited! All these girlie bugs -- I guess we'll just have to plan another trip to Chicago in a few years...

Happy Spring!