We were SO ready for spring break this year. A friend texted me with a kid homework question last week and it was several hours before I got home to check the answer. When I apologized at 9pm for the delay, she replied, "you need a break" and I replied, "yes! I have one planned after Thursday..." and then I was out the door to try to get a 5 mile run in. We're go-go-going from sun up until hours after sun down on weekdays, and with Sloane waking up a couple times a night I feel like our days just melt together into one long super day. I babysat for a friend so she could pack for her family's spring break trip, and it wasn't until she left when I realized that other than booking our lodging, I had done zero prep or packing for spring break. Homework for Reese is out of control, and between school and piano and knowing soccer is about to start and the 100 other irons we have in the fire, I think we were all just ready for some non scheduled, no commitments time to just enjoy being together. I was craving rest. That night I caught up on laundry, made a trip to get road trip essentials (food) at the store, and then the kids and I picked up some books, dvd's and audio books at the library. The library worked out perfectly because Aaron met us there after work and the kids got to watch "The Good Dinosaur" with him while I went to Reese's parent teacher conference.
On Friday I got an oil change, transmission fluid done, and the broken mechanical van door semi repaired. A couple friends volunteered to chicken-sit and we were good to go. Saturday morning, I ran 12 miles, then came home, showered, and Aaron had done the dishes and changed the breaks and wiper blades on the van. I love him. In less than an hour I packed bags for a week for 7 people and we hit the road. Go team!
Thought the week we listened to book one of the Harry Potter Series and loved it. I wished we'd checked out book 2 as well. We settled for book 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events. (I jumped ahead to book 2 since we've read 1-3 together) and we're delighted. Tim Curry is a fantastic narrator! This was Aaron's first time being introduced to both stories and he liked them as well. Audiobooks may me the manic potion for peaceful car travels! No fighting between my middle children. :) huge success.
We found several parts of of Memphis to be pretty ghetto and felt disappointed see a city so neglected with broken windows and graffiti and trash everywhere. When we drove through the heart of a particularly run down area, the kids asked why there were iron bars and grates over all of the windows and doors to the shops and houses.
This trip really opened my eyes to the cultural bubble my kids are growing up in. Urban living is an unfamiliar lifestyle to my children. They don't have many, if any local friends that live in an apartment building. Most of their peers live a life with comforts fairly similar to their own. They aren't used to seeing so many people walking or biking along busy roads, carrying their laundry or grocery bags or children instead of driving everywhere. All of their friends speak English as their first language. They've never been on a city bus and asked why there were people on benches on busy city corners.
Quincy noticed the racial difference and we had a discussion on diversity. She was fascinated with the many black hairstyle options and the idea of wearing a wig. We were only in town for the night, but I made Aaron promise we'd stop on the way back home to do a little sight seeing.
When in Memphis, you eat BBQ! We thought Germantown was a lovely area and joined the masses in line for dinner at the Commisary.
The hotel stay was an adventure. We're gluttons for punishment and still thing we can squeeze into one hotel room. Ha. Ha. Ha! I spent part of the night on the floor and part in a desk chair trying to get Sloane to sleep. Soren spent most of the night in a slap happy giggle fear and spinning in circles on all fours. He becomes quite the creature when he is over tired!
We didn't even turn on the DVD player until 3 hours away from Florida. The last hour stretch of any long drive is when the kids start to lose it. But this is what the last hour looked like for us. Corbin and Quincy snuggled up like besties? We believe in miracles!
And they actually were besties for most of the week. Beaches have magical powers.
Our SeaMist town home was the best setup we've had, yet. 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, garage, and a living room. No one above us or below us. Each floor had its own balcony and we had our own private beach just steps out the back doors. Every morning, an amenities crew would come set up 2 loungers and an umbrella for us near the shore, and every night they'd take it down at sunset.
No comments:
Post a Comment