We SO enjoyed our second vacay day!! After a similar night to last night (Solly waking up a few times, but the big ones sleeping in nicely) everyone woke up happy and ready for the morning. We had planned a brunch with Brady’s sisters and their families for 9:00am, so we tidied the place up a bit, sliced some strawberries, and got organized. It turns out one of his sister’s families couldn’t make it after all, but right around 9:00, our company arrived and the brunch party began.
It was SO fun! Their three boys played with our kids in the best way. Very much a “making up for lost time” kind of way. It’s been roughly a year and a half since we saw each other, and a LOT has happened in that time! Rowan has surpassed six months of age, we gained Solly, Dekker is in school, Laela talks, etc. We all ate waffles and strawberries, drank chocolate milk and coffee, and visited. Their boys lovingly dove into the kids, and helped them dress their waffles in whipped cream, scoop them berries, and advocate for them if they had a request that we had missed. Once the bulk of the meal was over, the six kids (everyone minus Solly) ran into the kids bedroom to play. They wrestled, played hide and seek, ran laps, and played HARD! It was so wonderful to hear! I was so pleased that our kids weren’t very shy at all, and I’m always so blown away by their cousins, who are SUCH good kids, and invest so much energy and love into their little cousins. They have great radars for when to play and when to leave alone if someone is feeling standoffish. But really, everyone was just ON today, in the best way. It was a fabulous morning. Thank you, again, SO much making this morning happen! We were so happy to see you!!! <3
While the morning was a total blast, our kids were spent afterwards (as expected) so we put the little boys down almost immediately. Dekker and Laela were also tired, but not to the extent that we’d make them nap. Especially not on a vacation. But we got everyone snuggled up on the couches and watched a bit of Netflix. It was a nice rest.
Once the littles woke up, we packed everyone into the van and headed to a nearby Walmart to buy some travel snacks, and some chips for supper. Just a little outing, but it was good to get some fresh air while exposing our children to the scariest Walmart we’d ever been to. It was both enormous and stinky.
Back at the hotel, we attempted another trip to the pool, but it was pretty short lived. Our first one had been a great success. We were the only ones there, so it was a nice way to break the kids in. Today was not so quiet and still, which is obviously fine, and expected. But it was a bit different. I’ve had a hard time through this trip, witnessing lots of kids with zero supervision taking things from my children, or being super inconsiderate in general. I don’t say anything, because I don’t want to be that overprotective parent, but today, frisbees were flying at my children’s unsuspecting faces, other kids were standing at the end of the water slide (actually ON the slide) so no one else could use it, etc. and not one parent even offered a fake “look out for others” comment, or anything like that. I had a hard time with that. That, and just the general loud, echoey, splashy pool setting had our kids pretty overwhelmed. So we left, and that was fine.
We warmed everyone up in fresh jammies, and called in some pizza. Once the food (and dessert) came, we pulled out all of the furniture in the sitting room, plunked down on the floor, and had a pizza party. “Party” as in we ate on the floor, haha! Party time!!! Ok, it sounds lame, but it wasn’t. The kids were thrilled to have pizza and chips, and then chocolate chip cookie pizza for dessert. It went over beautifully. I had expected to put a movie on to make it just that much more special, but they were thrilled with exactly what we had, so there was no need to add a distraction. It was just family time, and I LOVED it!
Everyone is tucked away now, which is PERFECT! After yesterday being such a big, wonderful, but long day, the kids really needed to have some routine back, so they were in bed right at their usual time. Well, its one hour later than usual, with the time difference, I suppose, but nothing crazy. Just Solly is left to finish his bottle and hit the hay. Thats when the real party begins, and Brady and I get to the eat the leftover cookie pizza…
It was a truly lovely day. Tomorrow will be busier again, out of the hotel more. I think it’ll be really fun. But it’ll have to work hard to beat the fun of the last two days! I hope you guys are having as good of a weekend as we are!