Summer Vacation Thus Far...in the form of Mom Things

You kick off summer vacation with a trip to Redbox, only to return and find that in the five minutes you were gone from home, your brand new, unbelievably determined four year old learned how to ride her bike without training wheels.

As a practice run for your upcoming week-long beach trip, for Memorial Day you take the four kids to a mostly-local hotel for a night away and to enjoy the pool.  After a loonnngggg day of swimming, you get everyone in bed at the same time, declare it lights out, and listen as the older three drift off into dreamland.  .............then you listen as your toddler throws the blankets out of her pack-n-play, discovers a matchbox car in there, and "vroom-vrooms!" it for 45 minutes longer.  During this time, your husband cranks the a/c to 62 because he can, and you can't reach your toddler to cover her up with her tossed blankets thanks to the precarious six foot tall partition you created to separate her from the rest of the family using all of the spare hotel room furniture, beach towels, and bed runners.  If only you had a picture of that architectural marvel...

You therefore vow to stock up on sleep for the upcoming beach adventure, seeing as how that experiment went so well.

As you entertained the quickly-fading toddler with the help of Big Bro up in the hotel room, you received a text from the husband who is down at the pool with the middle girls that said, "Honey Boo Boo just jumped in the pool."  You obviously cannot believe him until he sends photographic evidence.  Boom.

Just a few days before you leave for a 9-day vacation your toddler develops a hacking cough and her first-ever ear infection.  Kids have impeccable timing like that.

On the same day you had to mop up approximately a gallon of vomit from your toddler after attempting to give her a single drop of Tylenol, you discovered that the child proof cap on said toddler's Amoxicillin was no match for your (apparently drug-addicted) four year old.  At least she's good if she gets an ear infection in the next day or so?  The best part?  She didn't chug it straight out of the bottle.  She attempted to pour it into a measuring spoon before she indulged in the pink goo, spilling half a bottle onto the kitchen floor and rug.  Then, she attempted to clean it up herself.  You found out about it only because she wasn't 100% successful at the clean-up portion of her covert op.

In an attempt to sneak some of the antibiotic into your 14 month old's yogurt, you fail to realize that she watched you squeeze that dropper in there and outright refuses to eat it.  Turns out, 14 month olds are smarter than you give them credit for.

As an unexpected "bonus," she becomes skeptical of all food hence forth and only eats it after licking the tiniest bit with the very tip of her tongue.

Upon arrival at your first beach destination, a Residence Inn suite in Amelia Island with an equipped kitchen, your toddler begins freely exploring in the non-child-proofed drawers and doors and euphorically removes all of the pots and pans from the lower cabinets.  Her mood quickly changes after climbing into one and being unable to remove herself.

 

As you head to bed for the evening on night two of your vacation, you snap a picture of your sleepy and sleeping beach babies all snuggled together like bugs in a rug.  And you realize something...you are blessed.

Until next time...when I attempt to wrap up our 9 day adventure in 10 Mom Things or less...

Thanks for reading!  Be blessed!