Our Little Getaway

We left here yesterday around 2pm, drove around an hour, and checked into our hotel. We relaxed in the room for a few minutes and headed down to the pool. I didn't feel like swimming so I just lounged and commented on blogs. (Yes, I know...I said I wasn't going to bring my laptop, but I did. I ended up not using it much.) After swimming I ran out and grabbed some take-out and brought it back for us all to eat. We only have the most basic cable (just local channels, Style, & WGN) so the kids enjoyed watching Nick. The boys love this silly show called Josh & Drake. Around 7pm we went over to our friends house (about 7 mins away) and hung out for the evening. This is a group of friends that we have gotten together with for years. We love to play games, cards, eat, gossip, and gab. Our get togethers aren't as lively as they used to be. OK...they are lively cause there are lots of kids running around, but the adults aren't as energetic as we use to be. Since several of the kids were young, we ended up watching the ball drop in Times Square and celebrated that as New Years. LOL! The kids had no idea! And I don't think any of the adults minded. Several people left after that, but we stayed for another hour. It was mellow, but we always enjoy our friends. (The hosts moved an hour away about 5 years ago and we don't see them as much. Outside of the hosts, everyone is from our town.)

We headed back to the hotel and got settled for bed. We usually don't sleep as well elsewhere, but we were TIRED. Well...it was not a good night of sleep. Poor Dori was really congested and fussed around for several hours. Finally around 5am we all settled into sleep. Unfortunately the free breakfast only went til 9:30, so we had to get up around 9. We sure wished that we could sleep longer!!! After breakfast we went to the pool and this time I got in. I don't like to swim much anymore and I can't stand cold water. This water was more like a bathtub than a pool. LOL! No problem jumping in. I ended up jogging in the pool for 25 mins. It was a good workout!! The kids snacked and watched Nick while we got showered and packed up. Somehow we managed to get checked out right at noon and we didn't rush. And no one got grumpy or stressed with getting packed up.

Then we drove around for a while trying to find a place to eat. Several restaurants were closed and the ones that were open had long waits. We eventually landed at Dennys and enjoyed a lovely lunch together. We were all relaxed and getting along well. I actually got choked up on the feeling! Back when Eric & I were newlyweds living in Hawaii, we used to go to the Dennys at Pearl Kai and share a Hot Fudge Brownie Sunday. No desserts today, but the feelings were similar.

After lunch we headed home. We were so glad that we only had about 45 miles to drive. The kids snoozed while Eric and I sang along with a retro station. They dubbed themselves as The Music You Grew Up On and that was sure true. Not sure if they were really tired or just trying to avoiding listening to us! LOL! We had said that we would not nap and try to get ourselves back on a schedule by going to bed early. Eric carried Dori in and put her on the recliner and she stayed asleep. I think she will need to sleep propped up tonight. Anyway, we unpacked and put everything away right away and then our bed was calling for us. Parker crawled in between us, but climbed out when we both turned over to snooze. We ended up only catching cat naps, but it felt good.

This afternoon we did a Where's Waldo puzzle together as a family and now Eric & I are on laptops and Dori is playing near us. She seems to be fine, but I am sure that laying down with congestion will be hard tonight. I am still feeling tired, so I don't think we will stay up late. Hopefully her nap was just what she missed last night and doesn't have her up late tonight. We are glad that it's only Thursday and that Eric doesn't work tomorrow cause we might need to tag team her tonight.

I enjoyed our little getaway. We relaxed, got along, had fun with friends, didn't worry about what needed to be done, and didn't worry about money. Normally we don't splurge or eat out cause we can't afford it, but this was fun. I took yesterday and today off of designing, but I need to get going with Jo's makeover tomorrow. Jo won the New Look for the New Year giveaway that I was a part of.

Anyway, I hope you all had a relaxing New Year celebration!

BTW~ I just found this great link to safe alternatives to cold meds for children. We will be using several of these tonight to help Dori with her cold.Ringing in the New Year ESTParker & Michael spraying Silly StringJake & the girlsSwimming...too humid!