Vacation Fast Facts

We are back and FINALLY all caught up on sleep!  {For the most part.}  For a reader's digest version of the rest of our trip, here is all you need to know:

• None of the kids packed toothbrushes.  We discovered this little tidbit about half-way into our drive to Indiana during the following conversation:  Me -- "Kids did you pack toothbrushes?"  Kids -- "NO!  We never do!  We're on vacation!"  Me -- "What???  You don't take a vacation from brushing your teeth!!!  Just so you know -- normal people take their toothbrushes with them on vacation!"  

• A lot of "Just Dance 3" on the Wii was played.

•  Jane wore the same (increasingly dirty) white t-shirt the whole entire trip.  She was fine with switching out the bottoms from the collection of clothes that Grace packed for her, but she did NOT want to part with that shirt.  She also spent the vast majority of her vacation moving from electronic device to electronic device.  From iPad to Kindle Fire to iTouch and back again.

• I actually packed my running gear and went running one of the mornings I was there.  Don't be too impressed, though, because I only ended up running for a couple of miles due to the heat and my tiredness.  Actually, DO be impressed!  I ran without my ipod {which got left at home on accident} AND it was hot AND I was tired!  That is rather impressive if I do say so myself.  Hahahaha.
  

•  Fireworks were viewed down by the lake.   

•  Sam discovered that Alex really likes being pushed around in this little toy dump truck.  It was hilarious.  Not so hilarious was when I came down to the basement about 15 minutes before the picture was taken to hear him SCREAMING and crying in his pack n' play at 11:30 at night.  After scarfing down a banana and snuggling a bit with his mother, he calmed down enough for a ride in the truck. 

• Sophie packed exactly 2 outfits for the entire trip that she fished out of the dirty clothes before leaving home.   Apparently she had NOTHING clean.  Except for underwear.  {Thank goodness.}  Hahahahaha.

• And the kids enjoyed our last day at the cousins by going down to the "Marina" in their neighborhood.  After seeing my kids in their life jackets contrasting with all their cousins who could swim, I have decided it's high time for my kids to learn!  Maybe if we spend enough time at the pool for the next few weeks they'll get enough practice in before the summer is over.

This feels like a very disjointed and incoherent recap, but that was that.  Fun was had by all and there were many tears shed when it was time to go as is always the case.  It's nice to live near enough to family that we can drive to see them.  Flying is most definitely cost-prohibitive at this point.  :(

Once we got home it was back to the daily grind and I experienced my first dose of REAL summer now that summer school is over and ALL the kids are home all day long.  The kids have done their best to break me over the last few days, but I have done my best to stay zen.  And it has kind of worked.  Some of the time.  Hahahaha.  We got back on Wednesday evening {on the 4th of July} and I managed to squeeze in the last few workouts needed to complete my Ironman Triathlon on Thursday and Friday.  {Go me.}   Other than that, nothing much else exciting has happened unless you count LOTS of interrupted sleep thanks to Jane, a random fever popping up with Grace, crankiness (possibly caused by teething?) from the lover boy, and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of laundry.  There's no place like home!  Hahahaha.