Vacation-All I Ever Wanted!

About a month ago, I decided it would be a nice idea if just the five of us went away for the weekend. I know we went on vacation when my in-laws were here, but I wanted to do something with just our little family. I looked on line and found a Marriott in Newport Beach at a cheap price. See, my Dad works for Marriott, so we get discounts on all Marriott hotels. You have to find the right time, the right hotel and I can't always get his rate, but most of the time I can. And when I can, it is REALLY cheap. He is never allowed to stop working there. At least not until someone else in the family gets a job working for them.

I thought this would be the perfect little getaway. Hotel near the beach, we can relax, go to the beach, swim in the pool have dinner out. Most importantly, I don't have to cook or clean. Then again, I sometimes forget that I still have three small people who still need LOTS of attention. Damn them! I was looking for relaxing! I also forget that in order to do these trips I have to spend an entire day packing and getting everyone ready, then an entire day unpacking and cleaning up after everyone. Is it worth it to have two days of no cooking and cleaning? Okay, well maybe, but still. It ends up being a lot of work. Going on vacation with kids, I realize, will ALWAYS be a working vacation no matter what. We did have some fun, even if we had a couple minor problems. Like the fact that I forget to pack Andy's bathing suit. On a trip to the beach. And the only one he could find at Target was white with fuchsia flowers. Good news! It was ONLY five dollars!! Oh, and then there was also losing Lana's blankie.

We drove down there on Friday night. Newport Beach is only about 45 miles from our house, but you never know how long that will take with L.A. traffic. I wanted to leave in enough time for the kids to NOT fall asleep in the car, but since we didn't leave until almost 8pm, that wasn't happening. Oh well, at least we missed traffic. We got to the hotel around 9pm and after checking in, I grabbed a luggage cart to use. The girls were all passed out in their car seats, so Andy piled all of our bags and whatnot on the cart, then went up to the room while I stayed with the girls. He came back and we loaded the girls onto the cart. This would have been perfect if they had stayed asleep, but since none of them are four months old anymore, they all woke up. When I put Lana on the cart she had her blankie with her. Five minutes later when we were in the room, she did not. NOOOOO!!

We had them in bed when Lana realized she didn't have her beloved blankie, so we started an all out room search. Luckily, it wasn't that big of a room and we hadn't been there long enough to trash it yet, so it was an easy search that unfortunately, turned up nothing. This was NOT good. I told Andy to backtrack downstairs, search the cart, etc and see what he could find. Meanwhile I continued to tear the room apart. Before he left, he told Lana that she was just going to have to do without it if we couldn't find it. Yeah that's all fine and good, but who's going to be up with her all night as she rocks back and forth, crying for blankie like some jonesing addict? I'm pretty sure that will be ME.

NOT PART OF MY VACATION PLAN!

He came back to the room, having found nothing. Then I asked if he checked at the front desk when he was down there.

"Uh no," he replied.

REALLY? See now THAT would have been one of the first things I did, but for some reason he does not think this way. And I don't mean to single him out, because I'm pretty sure there are plenty of husbands out there who wouldn't have done that either. I see you wives nodding in agreement. Do we really have to think of EVERYTHING?

So, I made him go back downstairs to the desk to check and if nothing else to let them know we were looking for it, should it turn up. Five minutes later he came back with a smirk on his face but nothing in his hands, shaking his head no. Then I noticed the little blankie tucked in his back pocket. He walked around for a few minutes, still pretending he hadn't found it, letting Lana squirm a bit more. Then she spotted it, smiled and yelled,"DAD-DY!" She grabbed it out of his pocket and giggled, and immediately started chewing on it. Blech! I don't know how she can do that. Whatever, at least it was back!

My nights sleep was saved-for the most part. Getting them to sleep after their little nap in the car was no easy chore, but we weren't having to do it without a blankie. I still shudder at the thought. I realize I've created monsters with the blankie situation in my house, but now is not the time to tackle that one. I'm thinking more about attempting it when they're say... 22? That's good, right?

Mother Of The Year

There are times in this job when I feel like Mother of the Year. I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. I'm talking about the time, for example, when Sonya fell off the bed as a baby. Onto the hardwood floor. Also, that one time when Lana cried and arched her back for two whole months as an infant. Then we discovered she had reflux and needed medication. Ah what a proud parenting moment. Even little things like forgetting to send Sonya's snack to school with her, make one deserving such an award. Last week when I left the mall with Lana and Georgia, I won that award yet again. I lost GG's blankie.

Now for those of you who have kept up with my blog, you know all about my girls and their blankies. I've managed to dial Sonya back, and she only has hers at night now. The other two still carry theirs around everywhere. I will start weening Lana from hers a bit after her birthday. Georgia is still okay having hers all the time. Well, maybe not anymore.

We went to the mall last Wednesday morning and I put both girls in the double stroller. (Sonya was at school.) I gave them their blankies, even though I did debate with myself for a minute whether to take them or not. In the end I thought it was better to have them since I had to return a few things. This would help keep them quiet.

We did our errands and all blankies were accounted for. They rode the train, blankies still there. We went to the play area. Blankies? Check! We got to the car, blankie-Lana, yes. Blankie Georgia...CRAP!!

I looked in the van thinking I had already thrown it in there, but nope. I checked all over the stroller, in my bag, (although it wouldn't have fit in there) all with no luck. I knew it was SOMEWHERE in the mall. I was pretty sure it fell out in front of the play area. I needed to go back, but I had to pick Sonya up from school in 7 minutes. Both Lana and Georgia were already buckled into their car seats. I would have to get them both out, run back in there look for blankie, go back to the car, buckle them both back in, and get to Sonya's school all in seven minutes. Well THAT wasn't happening. These are the times you debate locking your kids in your car while you run in REAL quick. Only then I'd be getting a little more than the Mother of the Year award. Like a "mother abandons her children and gets a visit from Social Services" award. So I had no choice. I had to go get Sonya and just hope someone would turn beloved blankie in to lost and found.

I guess I wasn't too stressed out about it, because I did do something smart as a mother. All my girls have two of the same blankie. Whenever they decided they were attaching to a blanket, I found it on-line and ordered a new one to rotate in and out. That way they always had blankie to use. This has proved to be one of my better ideas, what with Sonya being a very pukey child and Georgia following in her footsteps. Not to mention Lana chews on hers, so I have to change that one out every other day for how insanely gross it gets.

After I picked up Sonya and we got home, I called the mall to check and see if anyone had turned it in yet. They had not, but it had only been an hour. Since it was in front of the play area, perhaps people were leaving it there to see if the owner would come back for it. In retrospect, I should have gone back after I picked up Sonya, but Georgia was falling asleep in the car. Besides, I was so sure it would get turned in. I mean who wants some other kid's blankie??

I guess someone did, because after five days there was still no sign of it. I called a few times and left my number, but never heard back. I had no choice but to go on-line and buy another "backup blankie". They still had the same style Georgia had, but no more in that color. Great. I got another color and I'm hoping the feel of the blankie, will make up for the fact that it's not the same color as the original. If not, I'm down one blankie for her and out more money than I care to admit to anyone that I paid for it.

I'm going to go prepare my speech now. I think they're polishing up my award.