Weekend Away

We headed south the morning of Friday, November 18th, for an overnight in Columbia, MO.  When we got to town we took the kids shopping to look for items for their sibling gift exchange.  Three of them found what they wanted and purchased their items and I did a bit of quick mom Christmas shopping.  The store was nuts and after Target we left the mall and headed to our hotel.

The hotel was lovely.  We stayed at a Drury - actually using our comp certificate from the debacle that happened when we were in Kansas City.  We checked in and the kids went directly to the pool which they found to be quite cold!  They alternated swimming with dipping into the hot tub to warm up.

After some fun in the pool we put everyone through the shower and headed across the interstate to have supper with Mike's family at a Mexican restaurant.  We were kind of tired, some whines, made some messes.....life with a big family isn't always easy, but it was nice to catch up and see everyone.  We found out a couple of weeks back that our brother and sister and our sweet nieces are actually moving to Kansas soon, so we fully understand how intentional our time together needs to be.

Evie sure appreciated the birthday dessert.

After supper we went back to Kea and Miguel's to visit for a little bit before heading back to the hotel to wash up, get on PJs and get everyone tucked in.

Saturday morning I was up way too early and went downstairs to the continental breakfast seeking coffee.  I sat alone for awhile and enjoyed the quiet, and then took Mike a cup back upstairs.  Evalynn was up and singing by that time, so I took her down to breakfast with me so that the others could try to get some more sleep.

She gobbled those eggs so quickly that she actually choked and they all came back up in her napkin....so it was not at all a peaceful breakfast.  At that point I gave up eating my own while it was hot and called Mike so he could switch with me and get breakfast himself.  We played switch around until I was back in the room with Ev and he was at breakfast with the other four.

I did take a plate back up with me and some toast and juice for Evalynn.

The kids decided to try swimming again and found the water a bit warmer.  Evalynn didn't last long at all but she was also very tired.

After playing for a bit she got out and curled up in some towels.  

I packed the room while Dad watched the kids and then he took Evalynn to the room while I watched the kids.  The oldest three challenged each other to swim under the wall to the outside pool and all three took the challenge.  You can see Natalee barely above the window.

After swimming and rinsing off in the shower we got everyone ready for the day, checked out of the hotel, and headed over to Kea and Miguel's.

The party was a princess tea party theme and Kea had everything planned so sweetly.

We did our best to be helpful and get things ready.

One of us was most helpful by going to bed for awhile to get a hard rest in.

Zayden sure appreciated the other little boy that showed up!

Happy 4th birthday, Princess!

Proof of big kids...

Since they are soon to be packing and moving and unpacking I chose a toy that closes into itself and stores all it's pieces within.  Hopefully it's something that can be easily carried along and opened up for lots of fun and play.

After Isa's party and before we left, Zayden got a birthday gift from Kea and Miguel.

The long awaited 4th book of Cul-de-Sac kids.  He and Mia were both very excited!

Too soon it was time for us to get on the road for our 3 1/2 hour drive home.  We were thankful for good weather, we prayed against deer, and off we went.  Some rested, Evalynn sang and laughed all the way, and I passed out snacks like a boss.  We stopped once midway in our home county in Missouri for fuel and a potty break and got home around 8.  I quickly fixed meat, cheese, and veggie plates for supper while kids ran through the shower and then got to bed.  No sooner had everyone gone down than one was back up with an upset stomach.  We passed out puke buckets to everyone else just in case and told them to sleep in the next morning since we had a sickness.  The sickness ended up being a fluke we think, because the one with the tummy ache was only sick once, but at least we knew were weren't sharing any stomach bugs with our church the week before Thanksgiving.

Overall our weekend away was fast paced, went by in a flurry, but was still very worth it.