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Monday, May 3, 2010
Peeping In....
Shella is the Mum of 3 gorgeous girls and lives in the Essex (UK) countryside in a little coastal village. I discovered her lovely home here and felt the need to share.
And we're BACK!
OH EM GEE, guys. I'm so sorry I dropped off the face of the planet last week, but unbeknownst to me, the townhouse we shared with our friends on vacation had NO internet access.
ACCCKKKKKKK!!!
It took several days for the withdrawal shakes to subside, but once they did I actually enjoyed being unplugged for a while. Sort of. A little.
Ok, I missed you so badly that it buuuuuuuuuuuuurned! Are you happy now?
Anywho, the vacay was FAB, and it was so nice to get away from my crap job for an entire week. Today I'm back and hating every minute of it, but I'm trying not to dwell. We got home last last night so I haven't had a moment to even upload my photos, but I'll share a few choice pics ASAP.
Everything went perfectly and exceeded our expectations. I won't rub it in, but I'll give you the Cliff Notes version:
The GOOD:
- The kids were amazing. They behaved, had fun, were cute and polite, and let me cuddle them and smother them with kisses. It... was awesome.
- All three families got along great! There were 13 of us total - 6 adults and 7 kids ranging in ages from 2 1/2 to 13 years old.
- Disney and Sea World kicked ass! D was tall enough to do all the rides at Disney and sat in the very first car on Space Mountain.
- The pool at this place was outstanding; it had a water slide and a lazy river.
- Great weather, but due to my diligent application of sunblock no one got a sunburn!
- We all got our nerd on at Medieval Times and it was a BLAST.
- Mimosas for breakfast every day.
The BAD:
- We did not get to see Elliott. :( Sunday got all FUBAR'ed because our check-in was much later than we anticipated, and by the time we got into where we were staying the kids were done-zo (read: too cranky to abandon while we went to dinner). We tried to reschedule but Elliott & Lori had work obligations. BOO. Now I'll have to go to farging Ohio to meet them.
- On the last night I dinged up my shin/knee on the hot tub. It is now a delightful shade of purple and yellow. Stupid champagne!
- D got carsick. Twice. I don't know if I'll ever get the smell of barf out of my car! For the record, vomit consisting of cheeseburger and chocolate milk will make you want to jump out of a moving car at top speed, but puke consisting of chicken nuggets and Gatorade? Not so bad. Except for the staining factor, that is.
- Vacations are expensive. I'm now broke as a joke till further notice!
- Did I mention NO INTERNET?!
The Amtrak Auto Train was an interesting experience, and on the way down we loved it. It was half-empty and everyone on board was families like ours, heading to Disney. But on the way home... it was completely full, it took forever, and the average age of the passengers was about 85. Seriously. Not just old people, but decrepid old people, some of whom where cranky and clearly didn't like children. When we walked into the waiting area it was just a sea of gray heads. There was only one other family on board, and thankfully we were seated near them.
Ok, that's it for now. I have a mountain of work to tackle and 143 unread messages in my inbox, I haven't touched base with any friends yet, and don't even talk to me about my messy house or unpacked suitcases!
But yes, it was worth it.
ACCCKKKKKKK!!!
It took several days for the withdrawal shakes to subside, but once they did I actually enjoyed being unplugged for a while. Sort of. A little.
Ok, I missed you so badly that it buuuuuuuuuuuuurned! Are you happy now?
Anywho, the vacay was FAB, and it was so nice to get away from my crap job for an entire week. Today I'm back and hating every minute of it, but I'm trying not to dwell. We got home last last night so I haven't had a moment to even upload my photos, but I'll share a few choice pics ASAP.
Everything went perfectly and exceeded our expectations. I won't rub it in, but I'll give you the Cliff Notes version:
The GOOD:
- The kids were amazing. They behaved, had fun, were cute and polite, and let me cuddle them and smother them with kisses. It... was awesome.
- All three families got along great! There were 13 of us total - 6 adults and 7 kids ranging in ages from 2 1/2 to 13 years old.
- Disney and Sea World kicked ass! D was tall enough to do all the rides at Disney and sat in the very first car on Space Mountain.
- The pool at this place was outstanding; it had a water slide and a lazy river.
- Great weather, but due to my diligent application of sunblock no one got a sunburn!
- We all got our nerd on at Medieval Times and it was a BLAST.
- Mimosas for breakfast every day.
The BAD:
- We did not get to see Elliott. :( Sunday got all FUBAR'ed because our check-in was much later than we anticipated, and by the time we got into where we were staying the kids were done-zo (read: too cranky to abandon while we went to dinner). We tried to reschedule but Elliott & Lori had work obligations. BOO. Now I'll have to go to farging Ohio to meet them.
- On the last night I dinged up my shin/knee on the hot tub. It is now a delightful shade of purple and yellow. Stupid champagne!
- D got carsick. Twice. I don't know if I'll ever get the smell of barf out of my car! For the record, vomit consisting of cheeseburger and chocolate milk will make you want to jump out of a moving car at top speed, but puke consisting of chicken nuggets and Gatorade? Not so bad. Except for the staining factor, that is.
- Vacations are expensive. I'm now broke as a joke till further notice!
- Did I mention NO INTERNET?!
The Amtrak Auto Train was an interesting experience, and on the way down we loved it. It was half-empty and everyone on board was families like ours, heading to Disney. But on the way home... it was completely full, it took forever, and the average age of the passengers was about 85. Seriously. Not just old people, but decrepid old people, some of whom where cranky and clearly didn't like children. When we walked into the waiting area it was just a sea of gray heads. There was only one other family on board, and thankfully we were seated near them.
Ok, that's it for now. I have a mountain of work to tackle and 143 unread messages in my inbox, I haven't touched base with any friends yet, and don't even talk to me about my messy house or unpacked suitcases!
But yes, it was worth it.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Birthday Festival
Last week was very busy at our place. I stupidly did not plan my pregnancies very well with the result that my kids birthdays are exactly a week apart. Not only is it an expensive week but it also seems to end up being about 10 days of seemingly non-stop partying. The days between the two birthdays are filled with dinners for cousins, grandparents, and anyone else who drops by, and the kids milk it for all they're worth with movie night treats, take-away etc which I fall for, being too busy with party planning to feed my family.
I am exaggerating a little as we don't go overboard on the party events - Gidget took a couple of friends rock climbing and Moondoggie took a couple of his mates 10 Pin Bowling. Both parties were very low key but heaps of fun for the birthday girl/boy.
Although fun, I am very glad it is all over for another year as I need a good lie down with a cool face washer over my eyes.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS 6 & 8
Cluck!
I think if I was to decide that Castle Kiely would not be complete with out some poultry I would want my chook house to look like this.
These make the idea so appealing I could almost be talked in to it. I found them on a Danish site which I can't for the life of me remember the name of (sorry). Besides it was in Danish so they could have been selling anything really.
Peeping In...
Today I'm enjoying looking through Trisha Bink's home. I love the way she displays all her favourite treasures and has created such a happy looking home.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Heading Inside
.BEFORENow that I have revisited these photos I'm feeling pretty good about the changes we have made. When ever I get depressed that the renovation still isn't happening I'll look at these and remind myself how far we've come.
Perhaps I should have asked the previous owners if we could purchase that particularly fetching sofa! A missed opportunity I think.
You may notice a fire place in the top photo - we decided the only way the four of us could fit in the house (and I could sneak in a flat screen) was to get rid of it. It was a hard decision but it has made the world of difference to our small living room.
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INTERIMThe room has changed a lot since this shot but as it is nearly midnight I'll save the 'after' shot for another day.
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