Best Spring Break Yet

The Buick rides again. The latest road trip went by without a hitch. Buffalo to Miami and then back again 7 days later. 270, 000 miles and still running beautifully!

I was grateful for every single one of the 47 hours we spent on vacation just in the Buick. For the first 20 hours I never stopped talking once. All of the stuff I had saved up over the last 3 years since our last vacation without kids (Paris and Hamburg Germany in May '06)

It was an amazing experience from beginning to end. I can't believe we actually were able to pull it off. We booked the cruise Wednesday and left Friday morning.

What I did from Wednesday to Friday:
Find babysitters, write instruction manuals, leave reminder notes all over the house, organize every nook and cranny of my house, refinished three dressers, finished dry walling and painting our bedroom, major clean up of my basement, moved furniture from one room to another (by myself), planned a menu and shopped. Basically a lot of OCD stuff that had nothing to do with taking a cruise but important in my opinion when you are asking someone to live in your house and do your job for a week. I crammed everything in two days that I have wanted to get to for the last two months!

It never would have happened without Taylor, Laney, and Henry. These are the ones that we will forever be indebted to.

They were the best. A very clean house to greet me and 5 well cared for children.

But just ask the kids.
Every five minutes they have something new that they just remembered their other mother did for them. Like just this morning as they left me for the bus. "Laney came out to the bus stop with us EVERY morning"

Or

"Laney cooked breakfast for us almost every morning. She made us biscuits and gravy."

"Laney crimped our hair"

"Laney took us to Wegman's and let us pick out whatever we wanted for dinner"

"Laney took us to Target and let us choose stuff to wear for St. Pat's Day and got us Peeps to hand out to all our friends!"

"Laney took us for a walk after church"

"Laney took us to the corner store for ice cream"

"Laney took us to Wendy's and said we could GET WHATEVER WE WANTED!"

Oh don't forget about Br. Hawes.

"Taylor painted our fingernails."

Caroline and Marcus loved Taylor. Marcus called him Daddy when he saw him at church yesterday.

So anyway basically the kids loved them, and we love them forever for putting up with all they did and doing it with such flare. I think their poor little Henry suffered the worst of all.

We have heard several stories since we've come home that really make us laugh/feel horrible about. Marcus woke up one morning at 4:30. Camille woke up one night because the blankets on the bed she shares with Caroline were not quite right. She had the light on and Caroline screaming when Laney came in to settle things down.

Taylor may have had it the worst though. On day one, our key less remote for the van we left at his house malfunctioned and he couldn't get the Durn thing opened. We didn't leave him with an actual key. Not sure how he ever worked that little conundrum out. That happened on the way to get some air in the flat tire on the minivan we left for him.

And he was left alone most of the first two days with two baby boys plus Caroline while Laney was off at the Gap. He once called Laney and said, "Come home now!" He had Marcus, Henry and Caroline in the bath. Marcus screams non stop during all his baths and tries to climb out. Henry decided to join him in the screaming "I hate the bath" tirade and I don't know how you take care of two screaming slippery baby boys at once. Caroline wasn't any help I am sure.

The kids also reported that someone plugged the toilet downstairs (Oops. . .we forgot to warn them about that toilet. It's strictly a #1 toilet) and the only plunger they could find was a mini one that I've never used. It just came with the house. I thought it was a prop for a plumber costume. The tip was just hardly above water level. Taylor had to plunge holding on with the tips of two fingers. Oooh, sorry man!

Oh, and we took the iron along on the cruise because we had no time for ironing the night before as we threw shirts in our bags. Taylor had to wear a wrinkly white shirt Sunday morning.

A couple nights before we came back they turned our fireplace heat down too far one night before going to bed. The fireplace was the only source of heat we left them. The next morning they found out they didn't know how to relight the pilot light. Somehow that didn't make it in either the 10 page instruction manual I left for them or the dozens of reminder signs I pasted around the house. It's hard to think of everything. According to Kennon they froze for two entire days without heat.

Meanwhile Daddy was soaking it up in the sunny Caribbean.
With Me! and only me!

And all you can eat Wegmans? That's nothing. We had all you can eat gourmet every living minute of the night and day.

But we figured it was all good. We had made a pact when we first went on the cruise and we never broke it. No elevators. Even with luggage or in high heels. I am sure that that made up for all restaurant splurges.

Besides eating like there was no tomorrow here are some of our Grand Cayman - Cozumel Spring Break highlights:

Brent's 20 minutes in the sun splotchy sunburn that embarrassed us for the rest of the cruise

Making friends in the hot tub. Although with my grandma skirt and Brent's sunburn we were hardly the coolest cruisin' couple in the tub.

Many hours reading our novels or watching Fox News relaxing in a completely pitch black cabin. Loved that part.

Separate beds for a week. We actually didn't mind it and dreaded going home to fighting for space in our queen at home.

Kashann hating the drunk spring break college crowd we endured all week. Brent enjoying the same spring break bikini coeds Kashann was complaining about.

Brent taking himself way too seriously in my opinion in the karaoke lounge. I signed us up to sing a Barry Manilow duet without his consent. I thought it went okay. I love "Can't smile without you". Brent on the other hand was mortified at our performance and will NEVER forgive me. I forgot he thinks Barry is not cool.

Seeing the space shuttle launch miles out to sea off the southern coast of Florida Sunday night.

Brent making me keep a gas log the entire way so he could calculate the mileage in his old Buick.

On the way home another memory to add to the book I am going to write called the Buick Motel. But spending the night in the Buick with two is a breeze. We once did it for days getting to and back from WA state.

That was when it went by the name Double Decker Buick and came with boards, harnesses, four highly abused kids, and one pregnant wife.

I missed the kids like mad. Especially the one I had just weaned. But having Brent all to myself for days was !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the happily married and refreshed couple.