Holiday Haze

Friday

I can't remember what we did all day on Friday, probably nothing. Maybe something. Not sure. Eventually we got cleaned up and met up with Laurie, Jeff, Ella, and Jilli and Bryan, Mickie, and Vera at a great pizza place. It has a big patio that opens onto a huge playground area. The kids ran like crazy.

Ruby kept picking up arm fulls of rocks to bring over to me. There was another little girl, with blonde curly hair, named Ruby. Maggie took her book to the center of the playground and read. Then she took a break to draw in her sketchbook/diary she got for Christmas. Better than the (not so) old days of screaming and crying when she needed a break.

The food was fantastic. We decided to go over to Laurie's afterwards, even though it was already close to Ruby's bedtime. The kids basically ran wild. Bobby, SJ, and J Leigh got there a few minutes after we did. We left at about 8:30 and Ruby stayed awake for the whole ride home. She fell asleep as soon as we got home.

Maggie and Ella have been begging for a sleepover. We decided not to do it that night because there just wasn't a lot of room with Bobby and his crew there too. So, we're going to actually attempt to all sleepover on New Years' Eve. We'll be able to do the fake countdown with the videos on Netflix and sparkling water or juice. We'll see how it goes.

Saturday

Ruby got up at exactly her regular time. Of course. No sleeping in for her. We puttered for a little while and then got groceries. Then we woke up Maggie and left for Grandma's house.

Ruby hasn't been out there in a while so she was thrilled. The drive down she was obsessed with finding animals. Once we got out there she was blown away by the goats and a horse and kitties and a dog. She was in and out and very happy.

Maggie would not leave Amanda's side, as usual. Amanda was so sweet to both girls. Grandma and Trent played and cooked. We had an amazing lunch, that my kids barely touched. I was only slightly annoyed. I feel like we never stop eating. It's hard to eat a meal when you are constantly eating, but that's the holiday haze.

The girls opened presents and we got everything together to head home. Ruby kept saying, can we come back tomorrow?

Once we got home, I tried for a nap. I think I might have slept for a few minutes. Ruby came running in at one point with "bloods." She actually did have a cut on her little finger but she had no idea how she'd done it. Their Dad came and got them eventually.

I went to Benito's for dinner with Laurie, Jeff, Ella, and Jill, Mom and Mark, and Bobby, SJ, and J Leigh. It was yummy, even though I wasn't hungry because I'm always eating. Mom and Mark went home after dinner and the rest of us went to Laurie and Jeff's house. We had a great time. I even stayed the night and no one woke me up.

Sunday

As soon as I turned on the light in Ella's room, Jilli opened the door. No one but her and Ella were up. We went into the living room and I asked her if she knew how to use her parents' coffee maker. Turns out, no. Luckily, Laurie was up not five minutes after me and she turned on some coffee. And she made the best cinnamon rolls ever. Uncle Steve came out too and everyone just hung out.

When I left, I noticed my rear car window was open and the door wasn't quite closed. The light was on all night. Saturday night when we left Benito's, Laurie's girls wanted to ride home with me. I remember Ella asking me if she could roll down the window and I told her no. I don't know if she did it anyway or it was accident or what happened.

I came home with the intention of working but instead I took a nap. My kiddos got home around 6:30 pm. Ruby had slept in the car so she stayed up a little. She will be so happy to be back on a regular schedule. That's the beauty of this week. It's glorious to never get dressed, eat nonstop, forget what day it is. And then it's not and you're so ready to get back to normal life.

Monday

Ruby slept in a little. She wanted to finish Moana and then she decided to try The Jungle Book. We've read the book a million times but never seen the movie. I drank coffee and worked.

Laurie texted and said Angie had free passes for friends so we could go to Six Flags with them. I was supremely lazy but I knew it would be good for the kids to get some fresh air and exercise. We got all ready and dressed and in the car and. . . it wouldn't start. OH MY GOD!!!!

Basically we just went back in and I made a plan for getting everything started the next day. What a pain. Dad tried to come over and jump it but he couldn't access his terminals on his battery. After that we watched Captain America: Winter Soldier.