Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Well - we survived (part 3)

Sunday S and T were up early so I took them to eat b-fast in the lobby while Keith and R slept. By the time we got back it was 7:30am. Keith got up, but we let R sleep until 10am. Once again we headed back out to the reunion, and once again we made a b-line for the pool. At this point I feel it's necessary to mention that the boys are fine, but Keith's head and shoulders are sunburnt and well, so was my shoulders and back. Yup - we're a couple of dumbasses.

This time everyone got lathered up in sunscreen - see Keith and I aren't complete dumbasses. This time the boys were in life vests (our hosts had found some in their attic and they were the perfect size for S and R). R of course headed straight for the diving board, but it took S a little longer - but hey he did go and kept going.

Basically we stayed for lunch (leftovers - even crabs), and by late afternoon we were back at the hotel for naps. That evening some of Keith's relatives had a brilliant idea - they invited us to their house to stay Monday night. This of course was perfect for the following reasons:
1. Their house was about 45 minutes away from the airport compared to 1.5hrs.
2. They had a pool.
3. It was free and would save us $70

So, after we all went out to dinner with the afore mentioned relatives I got us packed so we could be ready to leave at 9am. By Monday morning I was a pro at the b-fast thing, and we were indeed ready and in the car by 9am.

By 10:30am we made it took the relatives house in Seabrook. Helped unload cars only to discover that the a/c wasn't kicking on. Tried flipping the breakers - didn't work. Keith and his dad (who don't know the area at all) decided to go off by themselves to find a hardware store to get a breaker tester. Never mind that we hadn't unloaded our crap from the minivan, but I'm left in hot ass house with 3 boys with no diapers and no swimsuits. They finally fumble around and make their way back by 11:30am.

After going to get lunch we hit the pool to await the much anticipated arrival of the repair man. I need to mention that we were back to the arm floaties for S & R and this time it didn't matter - both were fearless. Mainly due to the slide. We didn't have anything for T, but he still got to get some relief from the heat.

Here's the fun part of my tale: the compressor on the a/c was dead. The repair guy said they don't carry them and they would need to order one. Luckily for said relative the a/c was still under warrenty - but that did little to ease my misery. Keith, DumbAss, decided we could tough it out in the basement with a few fans and no a/c. What DumbAss failed to realize is that in Maryland it doesn't cool off at night like it does here in the midwest - it stays f-ing hot.

SO - not only was it hot and humid the boys were cranky, R's asthma was acting up, and S kept waking up. Eventually DumbAss at 1am decided we could goto a hotel - yup we got to pay $$ for a hotel that we only used for 3.5 hours. You see - we had to be up and on the road by 4:30am to catch our 7:30am flight home.

Getting to the airport was a breeze - the boys slept on the way there. It was security that sucked ass. This time we decided to not check the stroller immediately. Then apparently everything - and I mean everything had to go through the x-ray machine: from the kids stuffed animals and sippy cups to the f-ing stroller. It was ridiculous.

Anyhoo - we got to the gate and S/R were having fun watching the airplanes take off and T of course was wondering around. The boys did have a little issue with their ears last time and with R's asthma we gave S/R 1/2 tablet of Dramimene and then a little bit of benedryl. The meds plus the lack of sleep overall turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Before we even took off Raymond was out, Tyler fell asleep during take off, and Stephen was alseep shortly after take off. All 3 slept the whole way home - 3 hours.

We got smart about getting our selves packed and home. Ken and I and the kids waited for our luggage while Keith caught the shuttle to pick-up our car. (See I'd prepaid via the internet.) By the time we got our luggage and were getting it outside Keith pulled up. We were home by 10:45am cst.

The rest of the day was pretty good - especially when the boys, all 3 of them, fell asleep at 1pm and didn't wake until around 5:30pm. I was a little worried they wouldn't go to bed on time - but never fear they were all alseep by 9:30. Not bad - only an hour past bedtime.

Overall it was a good trip - and an experience none of us will forget.

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