Santa

Pete took the girls to see Santa yesterday.   They all saw him - Emily & Hannah sat on his lap and I think Hailey stood next to him.  That's progress from last year when it took us about 8 trips to the mall before they would actually go near him.  On their way home Hailey said she needed to go back to see him because she forgot to ask for an iPhone. 

Today after school we came home, made lunch, hit the park for a picnic and some play time and then headed to the mall to see Santa again.  Hailey was standing in front of him (there was no one in line and no one around...we just stood around Santa and had a pow wow...lol) and said "I forgot to ask for an iPhone!" as if he was deaf.  Then that was followed up by Emily saying "And I want a Cat.  A REAL CAT!!!"  Ohhhh my goooooodnesssssss!!!!!!!!!!  I interjected and said how Santa doesn't bring REAL animals and this mall Santa caught on quick and agreed. 

I must say - their excitement about Santa this year is very contagious.  While walking through the mall they couldn't contain themselves.  The laughter and giggling and skipping and screaming...all totally worth every minute. 

Storm of 2011

So as if being down and out for 3 weeks with all of us being sick wasn't enough...we had a snow storm on Oct 29th that wiped out power to most of the state.  Yes - about the entire state of CT was WITHOUT power.  Night 1 the girls were at my cousin Jens house while Pete and I were home (and freezing).  Night 2 Pete took the girls to his parents house and I stayed with a friend.  Nights 3 & 4 were spent in a hotel room.  We booked night 5 in the hotel but by that point we decided to take off to VA and visit my niece.  We had preplanned this trip but just decided to go earlier since we were a waste of space here anyway.  Pete stayed in the hotel on night 5...the girls slept in the car on the 10 hour drive to VA on night 5.  Nights 6, 7, 8 & 9 were spent in VA at cousin Christina's house.  And finally night 10 was spent sleeping in the car on the 10 hour ride home.  Let's break that down in list form:
NIGHT  1:   JENN'S HOUSE
NIGHT  2:   PETE'S PARENTS
NIGHT  3:   HOTEL
NIGHT  4:   HOTEL
NIGHT  5:   CAR
NIGHT  6:   COUSIN CHRISTINA'S
NIGHT  7:   COUSIN CHRISTINA'S
NIGHT  8:   COUSIN CHRISTINA'S
NIGHT  9:   COUSIN CHRISTINA'S
NIGHT 10:  CAR

I was SPENT from the driving, sleeping everywhere but home, dealing with 3 kids on the road, eating out and just being misplaced.  BUT we did it and we did it with ease.  There were no major problems or complications.  And I learned that the girls travel just fine.  They did wonderful in the car!  Pete turned their car seats rear facing for the duration of the VA trip so that when they slept in the car they were more comfortable.  They didn't complain about being rear facing either!  I also learned that hotels should have a kid friendly FLOOR.  And it should be a 1st floor.  And it should be sound proof. 

The schools were closed the entire week PLUS Mon and Tue the next week due to power lines and trees making unsafe conditions for the kids to be at bus stops or walking to school.  And Halloween was cancelled!   Well that's what Mother Nature does - she just creeps up and disrupts the likes of what we call routine and schedule. 

We're back to the grind and slowly getting back on track.  Just in time for the holidays.....