Vacation - Chapter 4

I guess I should just make this the last entry about vacation so that I can move on... especially since it's been two weeks since we got back and I'm forgetting lots of little things by now. :)

The rest of our vacation was as enjoyable as the first half. My mother-in-law, Kathy, came down to stay with us from Thursday night on. It was great having her there, despite the fact that she overly-spoils the kids more than anyone else in the world. :) They were so thrilled to see her. I am sure they felt like they hit the jackpot with everyone being there at one time. It was one big party for them.

Jake really got going on Wednesday night before Kathy got in town, but showed his true colors when she had dinner with us on Thursday and Friday nights. I am not sure if he was just sick of eating out, but he was HORRIBLE at dinner. I've never in all my life seen a kid act as bad as he did. He screamed, threw food at me, threw his body backward, as if he were going to throw himself out of his high chair, tried to knock things off the table, and screamed some more... THE ENTIRE MEAL on both nights. It was AWFUL! I spent most of those meals outside with him, where he seemed perfectly content. Of course, these were the two nights we had held out for, knowing that Kathy would want to go eat at good restaurants. So, I missed most of the really good food on our vacation. I guess that's all part of being a mom, as unfair as it seems. I swore to Brad on Friday night that I would not take Jake into a good restaurant to sit down and eat for a LONG time. I don't think we've gone out since. Unless you count McDonald's as being good!! Bailey was always tough to deal with at this age, because she wanted to have undivided attention from everyone, but she was never as bad as Jake was on those nights. That's truly not something we say very often... :)

Before our vacation was over, I also received a wonderful compliment from a Walmart associate. My mom, Colt, Joe, Jake, and I had gone to Walmart to get a few things to help us finish out the week, including beer. I was checking out and the cashier asked me for my ID and said she'd need my husband's ID as well. I told her that my husband was back at the condo. She looked up and said that she thought my husband was the man holding the baby... my 17-year old brother, Colt. I thought I would totally crack up. I just laughed and told her that he was my brother... younger than me by 10 years. She couldn't believe it... which left us wondering... does Colt look really old or do I look really young? I am going with the latter to make me feel good. :)

Bailey and Jake also got new pets while we were on vacation... Myrtle and Ertle the Turtles. The night before we left, we stopped in one of the little shops on the beach to buy them some things, namely turtles, because I had promised Bailey that we'd get some. Sixty+ bucks later, we had two turtles and a little carrier. Little did I know that they grow to be about a foot wide each, they need an aquarium (which we did have), and that they poop more than they eat (or so it seems). Within a day of cleaning the aquarium, it was green yet again (yes, we even have a filter). Low maintenance in comparison to some animals, but still a hassle. They are really amazing though. I keep waiting for one of them to figure out how to climb to the top of his rock and leap over the edge of the aquarium. He seems to contemplate it for a long period of time every day. And the kids really love them. They check on them 100 times a day. Jake has even been saying "Tuh tuh." We feed them these little green reptile sticks (which smell like raw fish and smell our entire 2nd floor up). Bailey calls them the turtle's green beans... very cute. :)

I've dropped all of my film off to be developed and will get them back tomorrow, so expect a full array of pictures in the next few days. I'm sure I'll have a few little stories to tell with them... but again, I'm forgetting a lot of things now that it's been a while! :) Thanks for reading!