So after doing two loads of laundry and putting it all away, paying bills, sorting through mail, etc... I have a bit of time to sit down and actually blog. Hopefully the kiddo will take a good long nap, but I don't have much faith in that. She was up quite a few times last night and utterly miserable each time. The humidifier and sucking out her nose (although she's getting pretty good at blowing it) hasn't seemed to be helping. I have given her a bit of cold medication and that does seem to clear her out the best. Mucinex Cough has helped clear out her chest, too.
Friday morning after a shower and packing up the food I wanted to take with me, I headed out to the car to leave. Maddy was just fine with me leaving. No tears at all. In fact, she would yell out, "By mommy! Have fun trip!" I only felt guilty once when she went through my beach bag and pulled out my swimsuit and put it on and asked to go to the beach, too. Sorry kiddo, no such luck this time around! I plugged in my iPhone into the speakers of my car and put it on shuffle. I had it on the whole trip to the beach. It only has my favorite songs on it so it was fun to listen to--quite a mix though. I'd go from Sound of Music to Big Band to Techno.
The drive there was fine. I was in the car for the drive to Rehoboth on our last trip there so I was kind of familiar with everything. I knew exactly where I was all the way up to Annapolis since Matt and I had been there at least twice. I had to cross the Bay Bridge, but that wasn't a big deal, really. It sure it a long and high bridge, but I actually dislike tunnels more, so it didn't bother me. Just don't look down. :) I had more of an issue on the way home, since the guard rails on the way home have slats in them and therefore you can see through them to the LOOOONG way down. Plus, I was in the left lane. I had I been smart, I would have stuck in the middle lane.
I thought I got lost once though. Turns out I really didn't. My google directions sent me one way (the turn I missed) but on the way back I found a more direct way than the way google told me to go. So it was all good anyway. I did miss that turn as well so I had to turn around about a mile down the road but that wasn't much of a detour.
I stopped on the strip in Rehoboth to pee. I happened to find a Friendly's so I had lunch there (Patty Melt, fries and chocolate malt) and then popped over to Walmart for things the girls needed at the house. Getting to the house wasn't a big deal but when I got there they were all in the back eating lunch. That sounded a bit too tame. Stick 14 women in a house in one room and you really can't hear a thing. So I was out on the front porch dialing a friend's cell to get let in since no one heard me knocking on the door.
I had my OWN room. I can't tell you how heavenly that was. Plus, I brought along ear plugs so that really helped, too. I had a bit of a cold so I was on tylanol cold night time and day time while I was there as well so I'm sure the PM really helped with sleep.
Friday afternoon I walked the beach with a couple friends. I wasn't expecting it to be so cold though and that kind of sucked. Then I did some shopping on the strip in the artsy shops and stores. On the way back we had ice cream but all of a sudden I just got so COLD! So when I got back I laid down for a bit to warm up. I figured then I'd need to buy a sweatshirt or something while I was there to stay warm.
I bought a lot jewelry on the trip. 5 necklaces, a bracelet and a pair of earrings. I find that Rehoboth sells things at a pretty decent price minus one necklace that I just loved and bought anyway although it was a bit more expensive than what I was going for during the trip.
That night was such a blast! I brought along Dole Pina Colada juice and Coconut Rum and made pina coladas. Those were a HUGE hit. So much so we needed to make a juice run for the next day! There were a lot of wild adventures that night, none of which I can really discuss here. But it was a blast and I had pictures and video to prove it! I actually went to bed at 11 since I wasn't feeling the best (my cold, no I really wasn't tipsy) and at 1 am I awoke to see a flashlight and two girls running from my room. I knew then they were there for my camera! So I waltzed out of the room and they were shocked that I heard them even through the earplugs and pillows/blankets. I'm a light sleeper, what can I say? I made them promise not to erase anything and went back to bed. I locked the door after that. :)
The next morning was fun and busy. After breakfast (my usual southwestern wrap--also a big hit with the girls) another friend and I went to the outlet mall. I bought Maddy a couple toys at the disney store and also a princess dress. I bought Matt a pair of pants. I bought a pull over sweater with hood for myself and also some hair bands. Of course, we stopped at the chocolate factory before we left and I picked up a peanut butter cup. That was enormous.
It was warm enough when we got back to throw in my swimsuit stuff/cover up and head to the beach with beach chairs! It was heavenly sitting by the water and just relaxing in the sun. The wind turned after a bit and the clouds came in so I went back down to the strip by myself and did some shopping. I headed home after that and just hung out for a while.
We made a grocery store run for munchies and then went back out to buy our group t-shirts at the strip. It says, "Did we have fun last night?" I have to say, I've been wearing it all this week because it's a nice reminder of the weekend being home with a sick kiddo! We even had our 'signature' ironed on the back of it.
We all hung out and had a couple of drinks but most people had actually partied so hard on Friday that the party broke up kind of early on Saturday. Some people went out to the bar but most of us stayed in. Of course, they arrived home to find the master key did not work in the deadbolt and they were calling to me through the window at 2:30. :) The lushes. ;)
Sunday was a lot of packing and another trip down to the beach. The drive home was very uneventful and pretty pleasant. I was glad to get home to the kiddo and found that Matt and his parents held down the fort really well and Matt even got stuff from our list done, too. I was very impressed.
Pictures (I've deemed acceptable for public viewing) from the beach weekend can be seen HERE.
Ok, well, time to get off the duff and plan dinners for the rest of this week! Other than tonight, I have no idea what we'll be eating. :)
Tea of the day: Earl Gray and basic black