I don't know where to start! "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" No, no, no, I'll save that for discussing politics - which I've been meaning to do an will get to in another post. It was great to get away. It was great to get to know extended family - really nice, lovely people. It was hard to leave the boys. It was good to leave the boys. It was hard to trust them in my parents' care. It was harder to trust them in my parents' care with each phone call home!!
Upon arrival at our first plane transfer, about 2 1/2 hours after leaving the boys, at touch down DH's phone beeps to say there is a message. I don't wait till we got to the gate, I called in taxi mode. Oh Fuck! What is wrong?! But when I called, I find out that my Dad is having trouble figuring out how to get the sound on the TV. Ok - not too bad, not bad at all.
But then my mind starts working. My parents wanted to be with the boys, they complain about not seeing them and worried they won't know them.... but 2 hours into sitting he's trying to watch college football? Also, I don't allow the TV on during day light, so I know this action would prompt a question out of DS1. Afraid of how those were answered. Also, I don't allow TV, only videos. Yeah, we are taking off on our second flight and I'm starting to wonder how my mom is going to handle both the boys all by herself.
Out of the next 3 calls home over the next 24 hours, twice my mom is napping while the boys are watching videos or playing with my dad. On the third call, my regular day sitter is there, which I had pre-arranged, but an hour beyond what I had scheduled, feeding the boys dinner. Ok, I admit, I'm glad she is there! When I talk to DS1, he informs me, they "are fooling around. Then going to have dinner, go to bed and fool around some more". Clearly he's picking up a few new phrases.
The wedding we attended was magnificent, beyond belief. But it was really the people we were there to see. Cousins, cousins, and cousins and my parents-in-law. It was great. DH's brother and wife were there, and we always enjoy hanging with them. However, DH had decided not to rent a car, to let his father drive, which I can assure you will not happen again!
Let me explain, we actually missed the wedding. We left 45 minutes early to a place supposedly 10 minutes away. We were all in the car, with two, yes, two separate GPS systems. But if you have the wrong address, it doesn't matter how many GPS systems you have! After driving at least 35 minutes to a wedding supposedly 10 minutes away, we turned around. We called for help and were informed there were directions in the hotel gift bags, Aha! Interestingly none of us had asked for the gift bags on check in. So, we had back to the hotel for the gift bag, yeah, we'll be a bit late.
As I'm gazing out the window, while my angry father-in-law drives 10 miles an hour down the freeway, I see our hotel go by! I inform the others. We laugh till we cry. 15 minutes later we reach the hotel, I go pee, check my tear stained makeup, grab the gift bag and off we go. 10 minutes into the drive my mother-in-law mentions that we are heading to the same area where the rehearsal dinner was the night before. I lean forward (yes, as dutiful wife I am in the backseat) and note that DH is reading the instructions to the rehearsal dinner site, not the wedding! More laughs, more tears, total family bonding, but the grim reality sets in that we have missed the wedding. Finally, at the wedding site, we pull up as the last bus for the reception is getting ready to leave. We flag it and jump on.
The extended family, although we've been married for 10 years, I'm still just getting to know. This is the reason for the trip, and well worth it. Really just a great wave of people, all friendly and lovely, very welcoming although the years have passes since a tighter relationship existed. I really don't want to ascribe it to southern hospitality, these people are simply nice.
The next day was a post wedding brunch, lunch with cousins, and then our uneventful flight home. My house was tidy, the boys asleep, and my parents were tired and hungry. They want to sit again. They say they had fun. But I'm sure I'll hear the truth over the next few days as DS1 already told me that it would have been better if the lady grandpa had slept in his room and grandpa that snores could stay in my room.
2 comments:
I love this post. Your play-by-play of the weekend was brilliant. I'm glad EVERYONE survived. You need to do this again, if anything so the rest of your blogging world can get another installment.
PS. We still haven't done a babysitter (let alone an overnight) since Josie came home in March. I need to get cracking.
If nothing else my friend this will create some great memories of their Grandparents and that there is great comfort in routine and fun in flexibility. The snoring episode will undoubtedly create some laughter down the road that you will cherish and so will the boys! Good that you got away to rejuvenate as a couple! We have teenagers who could care less if we are home or not and we have all the time alone we could ever want and we still went out Friday, got a hotel downtown, had a lovely dinner and partied at a great martini bar. Just breaking routine can be so refreshing even when you have all the time you want alone together at home! I finally got your package in the mail today! Figured it would be better if the boys weren't already 18 by the time I got it there. I'm so bad!
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