No rest for the weary

Do you ever get back from a vacation and feel like you need....well, a vacation? That's how I feel today. We didn't do anything huge for our "vacation", just went camping about 75 miles from home with Andy's mom's side of the family. But the vacation didn't end up real relaxing, you know? Here's a run-down...

Pack up everything needed (except food, thank God) for 5 people to camp for 2 nights, with 3 of those 5 people being small children. We needed to pack and remember the tent, the air mattresses, pack-n-play, blankets, pillows, chairs, toys, clothes, shoes and sandals, bikes, snacks, drinks, dog food, all food associated with Mikayla, extra diapers, wipes, sunscreen, bug dope, various medicines...the list goes on. Of course all this packing was to be done while still handling the day-to-day dealings of our normal routine and daycare kids, too. We were leaving as soon as Andy got home from work.

Once we get to our destination (which had a minor setback in the form of directions that didn't go to the house, just the town the house was in) then came the task of unpacking all of the above mentioned things and setting them up. This is usually done by me, Mom and Wife, because I know the best way to get all those things set up in a practical and logical way. By the time all set-up is done, it's close to dark and we're all starving. We head to the local bar to grab some burgers (which are delicious and ginormous!) and then we're back and getting ready for bed. But alas, someone is missing a teddy bear and Alayna and Lilly's air mattress is almost flat already. Such is life, they are young and can handle it. We get all settled in and fall asleep. I am awoken by a lone howling coyote at some point in the night and I lay there just waiting for Sunny, our Yellow Lab, to join in with her own version of a howl. I say that nicely, as her "howl" sounds like she's being strangled. She is a Lab, after all. I fall sleep after being thankful that she didn't join in, only to be woken up yet again, but this time by thunder and lightning. The rain starts in soon after, and Andy and I jump up and out of the tent to make sure that everything that can't be in the rain isn't. By this time it's 5 am and the rain makes me have to pee, bad. I take care of business and back to the tent. I'm laying there a grand total of 5 seconds and a big, fat drop lands in the middle of my forehead. I'm done and ready to go home.

Saturday morning I wake up to find that only 2 small spots of the tent leaked, the one directly above me and another by the door (which I might add was having zipper problems all weekend) Not so bad. I was further tempted into a good day when Uncle John made a fabulous egg-bake over the fire in his dutch oven. YUM-O! But then the day went downhill because the temps went into scorching range along with oppressive humidity and no breeze. Lilly was randomly disappearing with her cousin Tanner, sending us all into hysterics for short moments. Mikayla is working on her first tooth and starting to get stranger/separation anxiety so any given moment without Mommy could prove to be very traumatic. Alayna was upset because she isn't quite old enough to do what everyone else was doing (namely playing volleyball) so she was elected line-judge for the weekend. It was a loooooong day. I did get to run away for about 2 hrs with John, Mary, Kim and Sharon to a neighboring town for their craft fair. It was neat but too expensive, so I just sipped my fabulous smoothie and dreamt of the day I'd be able to spend $30 on a pretty, metal leaf the size of my palm just because I liked it and thought it was cool. Some day.

Sunday was great in the weather department, but it was also pack-up day. So that meant repacking all of the above mentioned items into the vehicle, making sure we didn't forget anything in the process. Then came the extensive good-bye hugs and kisses that the girls had to give everyone. It was about a half hour affair of just leaving. Then the blissfully quiet drive home (all 3 girls fell asleep w/in minutes of leaving) and the task of unpacking everything again. I was tired, I was crabby and I was pooped. I needed a vacation.

Now I don't want to give the wrong impression, I had a good time. I got caught up on gossip on other family members or friends of the family, I ate a lot of good food, I was able to read almost half of my magazine...it was just a crazy, stressful weekend. I'm glad I'm home. But, there's no rest for the weary. After all, I'm a mom.